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Govt tasked to address youth unemployment, corruption
Military men surveil downtown Kampala on July 24, 2024 in the aftermath of the July 23, 2024 March to parliament protests which were managed by security forces with no reports of use of live rounds or teargas to disperse or arrest demonstrators. PHOTO/MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
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- Mr Frank Kabuye, Kassanda County South MP, echoed similar sentiments. "We need to remove politics from Youth Day celebrations and involve impactful youth leaders who understand the challenges facing the youth."
As Uganda hopes to join the rest of the world to commemorate International Youth Day next Monday, lawmakers and stakeholders have tasked the government to address the socio-economic and political challenges facing the youth. They emphasised the need for practical solutions rather than just hosting events.
"We need to focus on creating employment opportunities, revising the youth policy, and fighting corruption. Most youths are unemployed, and those who are employed are paid little. The government should devise means to get the youth jobs," Ms Hellen Nakimuli, Kalangala Women MP told this publication in a phone interview on Friday.
Mr Frank Kabuye, Kassanda County South MP, echoed similar sentiments. "We need to remove politics from Youth Day celebrations and involve impactful youth leaders who understand the challenges facing the youth."
Kabuye also advocated for the government to respect youth rights and freedom of expression, which is often violated. "No one should be put on mercy for their freedom; it's about the law."
The Ministry of Education was urged to revise its policy to accommodate fresh graduates and equip them with skills and experience.
"We need to get serious about skilling fresh graduands," Mr Kabuye said.
The government was also tasked to fight poverty among the youth, which has led to school dropouts, drug abuse, and criminality.
"We need to address the plight of the medical pre-interns and ensure their immediate deployment," said Katooko Daisy, a medical pre-intern.
During the parliamentary session on Thursday, Mr Balaam Barugahara, Minister of State for Gender, Labour, and Social Development in charge of children and youth affairs, presented a statement on the commemoration of Youth Day celebrations.
"Supervised wealth creation and youth empowerment programs, including the Youth Livelihood Program, have been implemented since FY 2013/14 with an approved budget of Shs347.672 billion. By FY 2023/24, Shs241.45 billion had been released, with Shs185.306 billion disbursed to 23,315 projects, benefiting 265,237 young people (143,508 male and 121,729 female). Cumulatively, Shs40.52 billion has been recovered," Mr Barugahara said.
He elaborated on the National Apprenticeship Scheme, which has been implemented to provide skills training to youth. Under the pilot scheme, 90 youth apprentices have already graduated in the Tourism and Hospitality sector. Additionally, over 200 more are expected to graduate by November 2024. Furthermore, 750 youth have been recruited to undergo training, marking a significant milestone in the scheme's progress.
However, most MPs disagreed with the figures he presented, branding them as theoretical rather than practical.
Mr Kabuye challenged the figures, saying many government projects are not performing as well as claimed.
"We cannot list the Youth Livelihood Program under successful programs; it was cut short of funding because it was non-performing," he said.
In response, Barugahara assured the house that President Museveni would address the issues on Monday in an event to be held at Soroti Core PTC in Sororoti District
