KAMPALA-President Yoweri Museveni has injected sh1.2 billion in 12 ghetto SACCOs in Kampala Metropolitan Area.

Each SACCO gets sh100 million.

"This is the beginning. But to get the best of that money, you need to work together and be transparent," said the President.

He made the comments on Wednesday while launching the ghetto SACCOs at Kololo Independence Grounds in Kampala.

“In a special way, I want to thank Brig. Ddamulira, Maj. Emma Kutesa and those they work with. I want to thank you for bringing light into the ghetto.

President Museveni interacts with some of the ghetto members before launching ghetto youths SACCOS at Kololo on Wednesday. PPU Photo

“The issue of the ghetto youth should not be difficult for NRM [National Resistance Movement] because even me, I did a very big job in transforming the ghetto of Katwe in 1968.

"I was from university, I decided to branch off to Katwe, where I got in touch with some ghetto youth at that time.

“During that time, they used to call themselves “Abawejere” with their leader Abbas Kibazo. We worked with them, and it was those ghetto people who supported us more when we were fighting Idi Amin.”

Museveni further urged the ghetto youth to embrace the four sectors of the economy to create wealth, and assured them that the government is ready to support them through the State House by skilling and offering them startup capital.

President Museveni at the launch/Photo by Maria Wamala

“We told you already that the medication for poverty has four avenues, with the first one being commercial agriculture with calculation, and people in the rural areas who listened to our advice are well off.

"The second way is industry/factories and artisanship and I want to thank some ghetto people for taking that route.

“The third way is through services like boda bodas, restaurants, singing, and sports like professional boxing.

"The fourth way is through ICT," said the President.

Hajjat Minsa Kabanda said when she was appointed Minister for Kampala, the President tasked her with transforming Kampala and to achieve this, she had to start from the grassroots by involving the ghetto people.

She said some ghetto youths are educated and can be employed in government to offer their services to the nation.

“We can use some of the reformed criminals to deal with crime."

Some of the ghetto youth at Kololo (Photo by Maria Wamala)

Ghetto Structure

Working with KCCA executive director Dorothy Kisaka, Kabanda also noted that they want to secure land for the ghetto youth to set up greenhouses to grow agriculture products where in turn they will get them market for their products.

The director of crime intelligence, AIGP Brig. Christopher Ddamulira informed the President that the beneficiaries are ghetto youth residing and working in 216 ghetto zones and are currently estimated to be 120,000.

“They are organized under the Ghetto Structure that was created in March last year and formally launched by the Minister of Internal Affairs," he said.

“This mobilization, Your Excellency, is a collaborative effort by State House through the Office of Comptroller and the Directorate of Crime Intelligence of Uganda Police working closely with other security agencies under Your Excellency's guidance and support.”

Ddamulira also disclosed that the Ghetto Structure was created to supplement other existing initiatives by providing a strong and clear mechanism through which these ghetto youth can be mobilized for peace and development.

“Your Excellency, by the time we created this structure, a number of youths lacked the dose of patriotism and were prone to manipulation by opportunists who used them to commit acts of political violence such as destruction of property, demonstrations and assaulting people of different shades.

“They lacked the mobilization to love Uganda and shun politics based on identity such as tribes, religion and gender. We noted that a number of ghetto youths were involved in criminality and needed to be guided through mobilization by the security agencies," said Ddamulira.

President Museveni tours some of the stalls by the ghetto youths shortly before launching ghetto youths SACCOS at Kololo on Wednesday. PPU Photo

He informed the President that the ghetto youth mobilization was going on well and thanked him for his guidance and support.

On his part, Maj. Emma Kutesa said that after the 2021 general elections, President Museveni directed them to stabilize and transform the ghettos of Kampala.

"Since then, Your Excellency we have been working towards fulfilling your directive up to the current state where we are now.

“Your Excellency, we would like to thank you for this initiative. It's due to your visionary leadership that you managed to sketch out the challenges in the ghetto such as bad politics where the greedy politicians use the bad situation of the ghetto youth to involve them into criminal acts," said Kutesa.

Some of the ghetto dwellers (Photo by Maria Wamala)

'The right people'

The chairman of the Ghetto Structure, Shafiq Kalyango, lauded the President for supporting and transforming them into good citizens.

“Mzee, what you have done for us, we assure you of our unwavering support and we request you to come and stand again for the presidency in 2026,” he said.

“Mzee, now you know what affects us as ghetto youth, we are ready to support you.

"Many people have been lying, diverting us and manipulating us into doing wrong things but you sent us the right people like Hon. Kabanda, Brig. Ddamulira, Maj. Emma Kutesa among other leaders who have been able to transform us," said Kalyango