Museveni pledges to double skilling hubs to 38

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President Yoweri Museveni has pledged to double zonal industrial skilling hubs in the country to equip more youth with practical and employable skills in key trades, such as hairdressing, bakery and welding.

Museveni, the candidate for the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party in the forthcoming general election, made the promise on Friday (December 19, 2025) while addressing a campaign rally at St. James Secondary School playground in Kyotera district.

“We are going to double the number of skilling hubs. We currently have 19 in the whole country, but I am going to double that number to 38 so that we can train more people,” he promised thousands of people who turned out to listen to him.

The President, who held his first campaign rally of the day at Mbirizi Seed Secondary School playground in Lwengo, said he was encouraged to meet the Bazzukulu (grandchildren) who have benefitted from the Masaka Presidential Skilling Hub and are now skilled, creating wealth and jobs for others.

Each of the 19 hubs that are strategically located across the country’s 15 sub-regions is designed to train up to 600 youth free of charge for six months to foster self-reliance, stimulate entrepreneurship, and reduce unemployment.

On his campaign trail around many districts in Uganda, the President has been promising to increase the money these hubs get.

“When you are distributing the money (sh50m), don’t give small (amounts). Give a few people, and they do serious work, and then we can always add more. There is no problem,” he said at a rally in Terego district on October 16.

He explained that he started these hubs to demonstrate that education and skills training can indeed be free and practical when managed properly and with commitment.

On September 24, 2025, Museveni gave these hubs sh8.8b, with each savings and credit cooperative organisation (SACCO) entitled to shillings 50 million.

“The skilling hub is zonal, but the SACCOs are at the districts, not too far from the beneficiaries,” he said.

This initiative is spearheaded by the State House and implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government and various private sector actors.

According to experts, the initiative is redefining how Uganda addresses the challenge of youth unemployment and underemployment.

It aligns with national development priorities under the Parish Development Model, Emyooga, and other enterprise support programs, offering a pipeline of skilled young Ugandans ready to contribute to the country’s socio-economic transformation.