NRM’s Seninde applauds President Museveni for empowering Kampala youth through skilling

4 March 2025, 11:26 am

By Amongi Desire Ocen

The National Resistance Movement (NRM) Director for mobilisation, cadre identification, recruitment, and placement, Hon. Rosemary Nansubuga Seninde, has urged parents and youth in Kampala to express gratitude to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for his initiative aimed at equipping ghetto youth with practical skills.

“Kampala residents should be wise and vote for NRM and President Museveni in 2026. As an NRM mobiliser, I am here to remind you all that we should be grateful to President Museveni for skilling the youth of this nation,” Hon. Seninde said.

Hon. Seninde also lauded President Museveni for restoring peace in the country, which she believes is a vital ingredient in building a great economy.

She made these remarks on Monday, March 3, 2025, at Mulago Skilling Centre during the showcasing of students’ work achieved over the last six months of vocational training.

The Mulago Skilling Centre is one of several centers spread across the five divisions of Kampala under the State House-sponsored project, the Presidential Initiative on Skilling the Girl/Boy Child (PISGBC).

“I thank President Museveni; he has been a gift to us. He gave us peace and freedom of choice, for which we should be very grateful. He has also provided a solution to unemployment by skilling the youth.”

Hon. Seninde used the opportunity to campaign for her fellow party members, such as Faridah Nambi, the NRM flag bearer vying for the Kawempe North Parliamentary seat.

“I expect each of you to bring at least 20 others to vote. This is a mock election for President Museveni in the Buganda region and will prove your loyalty to him and the NRM party ahead of the 2026 elections,” she emphasised.

The Special Presidential Assistant on Skilling and Education and Head of the PISGBC project, Dr. Faith Mirembe Katana, said Ugandans should take advantage of the country’s large population as a vast market for their products. She encouraged them to create world-class products that can compete on the global market and be exported as far as China instead of simply importing Chinese goods.

Dr. Katana, like many other speakers at the event, commended President Museveni and Ms. Jane Barekye, the State House Comptroller, for their great support in ensuring that the skilling project receives adequate materials and funding to remain operational since its inception.

“However, we have a challenge with LCs who endorse non-residents at the expense of genuine residents in these areas; this is not proper,” Dr. Katana cautioned.

Dr. Katana revealed that Mulago Skilling Centre is the most populated of all nine centres. It currently has 783 students registered for exams due in March, though 890 students initially enrolled at the start of the six-month semester in August last year.

The event was also attended by other leaders, including Amina Lukanga, the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) for Mbarara district.

The event’s music playlist featured many inspirational and gospel songs, reflecting the spiritual growth of the transformed youth, many of whom had previously been involved in crime, prostitution, and drug abuse. Within less than a year, they have reformed into God-fearing and skilled craftsmen and women.

Among them is 32-year-old Dan Muhire, a Mulago resident studying electronics and phone repair, with a speciality in satellite dish installation.

“Before I joined skilling, I had completed Senior Four but was idle and without hope. Since joining, I can now repair phones and install satellite dishes, earning about sh30,000 per phone repair,” he said with a glimmer of hope in his baritone voice.

Two of his youthful coursemates, 19-year-old Patricia Sylvia and 20-year-old Prossy Nakuti, have also undergone remarkable transformation. Patricia dropped out of Senior Three in 2023 due to financial challenges, while Nakuti faced similar hardships. Together, they are part of a team that created a prototype fridge from plywood, which even includes a deep freezer section.

Patricia explained that the fridge was completed in just two weeks.

“We use unwanted materials; it has cooling tubes made from copper and a compressor that heats the gas and sends it to the dryer filter,” Nakuti elaborated on the refrigeration process.

The duo, now budding electronics engineers, noted that such a product can be sold for sh200,000 and customized in any color based on clients’ preferences.

Martha Atuhaire, a 24-year-old embroidery student, shared her journey of joining the skilling centre after earning a university degree in Industrial Fine Art from Makerere University.

Despite the long daily commute from Gayaza Nakwero to the Mulago-based Skilling Centre, Atuhaire believes this opportunity is a step in the right direction for her career.

“We use embroidery machines to make African shirts, bridal wear, and gowns that cost sh1 million, as well as changing dresses that cost sh500,000 and duvets that range between sh100,000 and sh500,000,” she explained.

Among the challenges she faces is the daily traffic jam, which delays her by about 30 minutes. Despite waking up at 6:00 a.m. every day, she only arrives at the centre by 7:30 a.m., while classes start promptly at 7:00 a.m.

The Mulago Centre Guild President, Michael Bamwine, showcased a smart electric switch that can be activated either by touch or remotely via a phone app.

The trainer of Recycling and Value Addition, Ms. Norah Namanya, nicknamed the “Queen of Tyres,” introduced the concept of turning old tyres into useful items such as wall clocks, interior decorations, tyre sofa sets, and children’s seats.

According to Ms. Namanya, the 2024/25 intake for recycling skills enrolled 148 students from three centres: Mulago, Kikoni, and Wabigalo.

“The main purpose of this skill is to manage inorganic waste, create jobs for ghetto youth by utilising limited resources, and transform their mindset by solving the problem of burning tyres, which damages expensive roads,” she said.

She emphasised that recycling tyres as a new skill has changed the community’s perception of waste. What was once seen as useless is now regarded as “gold.”