Local leaders and security officials in Uganda’s Rwenzori sub-region have praised President Yoweri Museveni’s Presidential Industrial Skilling Hubs for helping tackle insecurity by giving unemployed and vulnerable youth practical skills, start-up support and opportunities to earn a living.
The leaders made the remarks during stakeholder engagements at the Rwenzori Sub-region Zonal Presidential Industrial Skilling Hub in Ntoroko and the Rwenzori Zonal Presidential Industrial Skilling Hub in Kasese, meetings chaired by State House Comptroller Jane Barekye.
Kasese District Internal Security Officer Mohammad Ikaaba said the skilling programme was providing an important alternative for young people who could otherwise be vulnerable to recruitment by criminal and subversive groups. He cited the activities of Kirumira Mutima, which he said had targeted vulnerable youth and was linked to attacks on government installations in Kasese, Fort Portal and Bundibugyo on November 1, 2025.
Ikaaba said graduates of the hubs were increasingly becoming positive influences in their communities, with some even sharing information with security agencies about suspected criminal or subversive activities. He urged government to increase funding for graduate SACCOs to enable more beneficiaries to obtain capital and establish sustainable businesses.
Commander of the 222 Mountain Brigade, Lt Col Emmanuel Kafureka, said the programme was contributing to security by giving unemployed youth a productive path. He called for the introduction of the President’s Four-Acre Model at the Kasese hub and asked State House to help secure additional government land from Uganda Prisons to support commercial agriculture training.
Kafureka also appealed for the programme’s age limit to be expanded and for additional trades such as mechanical engineering and plumbing to be introduced. Barekye said State House was already considering the expansion of trades to include mechanics, plumbing and electrical installation, while promising to engage Uganda Prisons over the proposed land.
Kasese District LC5 Chairperson Eliphaz Muhindi Bukombi said more than 1,000 young people had already benefited from free training at the Rwenzori hub, but noted that graduates needed increased access to start-up funding. Kasese Deputy Resident District Commissioner Joshua Katunda similarly said the programme had helped reduce the vulnerability of unemployed and school-dropout youth to manipulation by people involved in criminal activities.
At the Ntoroko hub, Fort Portal City Resident City Commissioner Asumin Nasike described the programme as highly successful, noting that several graduates had subsequently joined the Uganda People’s Defence Forces. State House Director of Presidential Projects and Presidential Industrial Hubs, Eng. Raymond Kamugisha, meanwhile, commended the Rwenzururu Kingdom, particularly King Charles Wesley Mumbere, for mobilising young people to embrace vocational training. Barekye maintained that the hubs would remain focused on providing free training to underprivileged youth, rejecting private sponsorship proposals and stressing that expansion would depend on the availability of government resources.
