Residents excited as construction of Mubende industrial hub nears completion

An industrial hub, which the government set up in Mubende District in central Uganda is nearing completion, exciting jobless youth who expect to get employable skills from the facility.
The hub, located at Kibuye-Vuga Village, Kitenga Sub County is expected to be officially launched by President Museveni in October.
Mr Focus Ssewanyana, the Mubende youth chairperson, said many youth in the district are loitering on the streets not because they don’t want to work, but due to lack of employable skills.
“We are happy that such a big skilling project is being hosted in our district. Skills in catering, bakery, weaving, tailoring, carpentry, welding, shoe making, stone cutting and ceramics are going to be provided which will enable the youth to directly participate in the cash economy,” he said during an interview on Monday.
Mr Ssewanyana said youth who fail to seize this opportunity to acquire hands-on skills will have themselves to blame and not anyone else.
“Opportunities have becoming and people ignore them, this time if we don’t use this chance and get skills, we should blame nobody else, but ourselves,” he said.
According to Mr Benjamin Kumumanya, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Local government, industrial hubs were set up in various parts of the country with the intention of fighting unemployment, especially among the youth. He urged the targeted beneficiaries to embrace the project.
“The government has done its part and the onus is now on the youth to embrace these projects. It will be unfortunate if the youth don’t use the facility to acquire the skills,” he said, adding that the training at the industrial hub will be free of charge.
Mr Michael Tabaalo, the chairperson of Kitenga Sub County said that the industrial hub, even before completion, has already caused development following the extension of electricity to the area.
“Some years ago, we could not imagine that electricity will extend to our area by now, but because of this project, it is here and residents are now hopeful that it will reach their respective homes,” he said.
The industrial hub, whose construction started in 2019, sits on a 52 acre piece of land which was donated by the district. According to National Housing and Population Census 2014, Mubende District has a population of 684,348 people and of these, 149,847 are aged 13- 30 years. The district has a total of 151,100 households, of which 49,600 (32.8 per cent) are headed by youth aged 18 -30 years