Two leaders of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) have held a meeting with the Omusinga (king) Charles Mumbere over youth development issues in the Rwenzori sub-region.

State ministers Balaam Barugahara and Godfrey Kabbyanga, who serve as PLU’s vice chairman for western region and coordinator for Rwenzori, respectively, on Thursday (May 2nd) met the Rwenzururu king at his palace in Kasese district.

Barugahara and Kabbyanga are state ministers for children and youth affairs, and ICT, respectively, in President Yoweri Museveni's led government.

Gen. Muhoozi, who is the Chief of Defence Forces and senior presidential advisor on special operations, is the chairman of PLU, formerly known as the MK Movement. 

PLU was launched in Kampala on February 7, 2024, as a civic organisation to mobilise Ugandans towards the goal of national unity, peace and stability.

But the MK Movement started in April 2022 as “a spontaneous and diverse group of Ugandans that rallied around Gen. Muhoozi to appreciate his military service and the service of his army comrades to the Republic of Uganda”.

Developing the youth

Whereas details of the meeting were released to the press, Barugahara, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to thank Omusinga for the warm reception.  

In a video he shared on X shortly after the meeting, Barugahara was heard informing the Omusinga that the youth constitute 78% of Uganda’s population.

“It is important that we work together with the Rwenzururu kingdom to make sure that the youth of Rwenzururu get the necessary support they need [such as] skills, tools and the necessary capital to empower them to work,” he said.

Without revealing the amount, the minister also said the Government had earmarked money to revive the Mubuku Youth Skills Training Centre in Ibanda-Kyanya town council.

The institution, which was reportedly founded in the 1960s by a British Citizen, Good Morrow as a farm, was later donated to the Government of Uganda through the then Ministry of Social Mobilization and Community Development.

According to some media reports, it was a vibrant skills centre under the National Union of Youth Organisation in the 1960s and 1970s where youth from across the country, after completion of their Primary Seven, would come to acquire skills mainly in poultry farming, carpentry, bricklaying and concrete practice and house roofing.

“It is important that we revive Mubuku Training College. Government has put some money into reviving it,” he told the king.

Barugahara was also heard saying that he had informed the king that on top of the Presidential Skilling Hub in the area, as government they intend to set up more of those institutes.

A total of 466 students from the 2nd intake (235) and the third intake (231) completed their vocational training last month at this hub and were awarded certificates in seven employable vocational disciplines including tailoring and design, hairdressing and makeup, building and construction practice, and carpentry, among others.

The minister’s video did not capture the Omusinga’s remarks but during the graduation ceremony of these students, he saluted President Museveni for skilling the youths in communities with employable vocational skills to fight unemployment.

“I thank His Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for this initiative. Our young people have benefited and will continue to benefit from this institution. This Skilling Hub admits learners without academic discrimination. It is my sincere prayer before His Excellency to expand this Skilling Hub in order to admit more learners at a time,” Omusinga said, according to a recent statement from the State House.