Kayunga, Uganda: President Yoweri Museveni Friday launched the Mengo Zonal Presidential Industrial Skilling Hub in Kayunga District, describing the facility as a new frontline in his national campaign to fight poverty and youth unemployment.
“This is not just a hub. It’s a battlefield for wealth creation,” Museveni declared during the launch, on June 20, in Nazigo Subcounty, adding that Uganda’s traditional education path had betrayed his original 1996 ‘Bonna Basome’ (education for all) vision through the imposition of illegal school fees. “That’s why I returned to Luwero, not with guns, but with tools for skilling the youth.”
The Mengo Hub, one of 19 under the Presidential Initiative on Skilling the Youth, is designed to equip over 12,000 Ugandans annually with practical skills. Trainees receive meals, accommodation, and Uganda Vocational Qualifications Level One certificates, equivalent to a Uganda Certificate of Education, and internationally recognized.
President Museveni said the hubs are now more impactful than UPE and USE, arguing that vocational training guarantees immediate empowerment. “We are not just training, we are launching an army of job creators,” he said. “You don’t need to beg for jobs if you can create them yourself.”
The President also called for the decentralisation of the initiative to the district level and announced plans to introduce shared industrial machinery to boost youth productivity.
A Beacon of Transformation
Minister of State for Finance (Economic Planning), who is also MP for Ntenjeru North, Hon. Amos Lugoloobi, lauded the President’s skilling vision, describing the hubs as “centres of transformation.”
Lugoloobi revealed that the Mengo Hub trains 420 youth every six months in trades like tailoring, baking, welding, carpentry, shoemaking, and cosmetology.
“These hubs are not just training centres, they are life-changing sanctuaries,” Hon Lugoloobi said. He also called for expanded accommodation and the introduction of soft loans in shillings as startup capital.
Success Stories from the Hubs
Mastula Nantongo, a 28-year-old single mother and Primary Five dropout from Luwero, shared how the hub helped her transition from washing clothes for Sh5,000 a day to owning a salon employing nine people.
“I used to sleep on the floor. At the hub, I was given a mattress, a blanket, and a bed,” she said. Within six months, she had mastered hairdressing, earned her first job through a tutor’s connection, and saved Sh1.6 million to start her own salon.
“Today I pay school fees for my two children, my three siblings, and care for my mother,” she said. “I used to feel hopeless, but now I feel rich.”
Ashraf Semakata, 23, a beneficiary from Gomba District, recounted how he went from carrying loads for a living to running a successful bakery.
After training in bakery and confectionery at the skilling hub, he rejected a job offer of Shs800,000 and opened his own enterprise. “Now I earn up to Shs900,000 a month. I even bought two cows and train students from three secondary schools,” he said.
“These hubs restored our dignity,” Semakata asserted, adding, “I now train others, and I’m proud to be part of Uganda’s journey to prosperity.”
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