RDC Angalia challenges Bunyoro Industrial Hub students to be job creators, not seekers

By Our Reporter

Masindi: Students who are undergoing training in different practical courses at Bunyoro Zonal Presidential Industrial Hub in Masindi district have been challenged to be job creators, not seekers.

While addressing the students at the training facility on Friday, Godwin Angalia Kasigwa, the Resident District Commissioner for Kibaale, advised students not to join the unemployed youth camp but to be job creators by starting their own businesses and employing other people.

Angalia told students that the presidential industrial hub is the only platform where they can acquire skills and become job creators instead of seekers.

‘’Don’t become a problem to your society when you get home, and don’t join the unemployed camp; put in use the skills you are acquiring because it’s the only way you can earn a living,’’ he advised.

On the same note, Angalia also advised the students to desist from joining destructive camps and rather become productive to elevate themselves out of poverty and improve their household income.

‘’As government, we shall accommodate you; in the future, we shall add another category of beneficiaries in the PDM and Emyooga programs, and it will target those who have been skilled in the presidential industrial hubs,’’ he disclosed.

He commended President Museveni for the initiative, saying it’s one of the ways to fight unemployment among the youth in the country. ‘’When the youth are not employed, they become a security threat to the community; therefore, I want to applaud President Museveni for this initiative.”

Scovia Agatha Turyamuhebwa, the manager of the Bunyoro Zonal Presidential Industrial Hub, advised parents and guardians to take their children to the hub since all necessities are provided by the government.

‘’I’m appealing to parents and guardians to ensure their children are enrolled for vocational studies at this presidential hub because everything is catered for by the government,’’ she advised.

‘’The skills students acquire in other private vocational institutions are the same skills our students attain here and at zero cost since all necessities are provided by the government.’’

Martin Stephen Kaahwa, the head of the Building and Construction Department at the Hub, said that though the students have spent about three months, they are able to walk the talk.

John Businge, a student from Kibaale District, applauded President Museveni for the initiative, saying that they have acquired new skills that they didn’t attain in other vocational institutes.

He said that as a result of the training, he will be able to start his own business and employ other people.

Currently, Bunyoro Zonal Presidential Industrial Hub has a total of 228 students, of which 112 are male and 116 are female. It offers seven courses, which include welding, carpentry, tailoring, hairdressing, building and construction, shoemaking, and baking.

According to the information obtained from the industrial hub, students who are undergoing training will complete it in May and graduate in June this year.

This is the third intake since the industrial hub was established. In January last year, a total of 209 youth passed out after completing training in different practical courses at the same industrial hub.

The districts of Bunyoro sub-region include Masindi, Buliisa, Kibale Kagadi, Kiryadongo, Kakumiro, Kikuube and Hoima City and Hoima district.

The Bunyoro hub is among the 20 constructed countrywide to mitigate the challenge of unemployment, especially among the youths who, after the training, are poised to become job makers as opposed to job seekers.

The Hubs are the brainchild of President Museveni as part of his agenda to get all Ugandans into the money economy.

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