Local government leaders and security chiefs in the Rwenzori sub-region have credited President Museveni's Presidential Industrial Skilling Hubs with helping to address insecurity by taking vulnerable and unemployed youths away from idleness and equipping them with vocational skills.
The leaders said the hubs have become an important intervention in a region that has experienced incidents of insecurity by providing young people with skills, start-up capital and opportunities to engage in productive enterprises.
They made the remarks during stakeholders' meetings chaired by State House Comptroller Jane Barekye at the Rwenzori Sub-region Zonal Presidential Industrial Skilling Hub in Ntoroko and the Rwenzori Zonal Presidential Industrial Skilling Hub in Kasese.
Kasese District Internal Security Officer Mohammad Ikaaba said the hubs provide opportunities to youths who might otherwise be targeted for recruitment into subversive groups.
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Ikaaba cited the activities of a group known as Kirumira Mutima, which he said had targeted vulnerable youths and was linked to attacks on government installations in Kasese, Fort Portal and Bundibugyo on November 1, 2025.
He said many hub graduates had become change agents in their communities, with some providing information to security agencies about suspected subversive activities.
Ikaaba asked the government to increase funding to graduates' SACCOs so that more young people leaving the hubs can access capital and establish businesses.
The Commander of the 222 Mountain Brigade, Lt Col Emmanuel Kafureka, said the programme's impact goes beyond vocational training to supporting security and stability.
"You don't know how this hub is helping us really. I came here during campaigns and just spent one month here when we were attacked by Kirumira Mutima, a rebel group targeting vulnerable youths with no work to do. But I want to assure you that such youths have been admitted to this hub and are now engaged in productive work," Kafureka said.
He asked State House to introduce the President's Four-Acre Model at the Kasese hub to provide another avenue for engaging youths in commercial agriculture.
The hub currently lacks sufficient land for the model farm. Leaders said Uganda Prisons at Mubuku had earlier indicated that land would be provided, but the hub has not yet accessed it.
"Madam Barekye, please don't wait for the district to do it. You yourself write to the Commissioner General of Prisons to secure that land. It's government land and the Four-Acre Model is a government project," Kafureka said.
He also asked State House to widen the age bracket for beneficiaries and introduce more trades, including mechanical engineering and plumbing.
"We have some people at 40 who can really be skilled and they also live a meaningful life," he said.
Barekye said more trades, including mechanics, plumbing and electrical installation, would soon be introduced. She also promised to engage Uganda Prisons over the proposed land.
The Deputy Resident District Commissioner for Kasese-Busongora, Joshua Katunda, said unemployed and school dropout youths had sometimes been exploited by people involved in criminal and subversive activities.
He said the hubs had provided an alternative by equipping youths with vocational skills and giving graduates access to capital through hub SACCOs.
"I therefore want to thank the President for this initiative and I pray that it is supported further because it has worked on the insecurity in the region," Katunda said.
Kasese District LC5 Chairperson Eliphaz Muhindi Bukombi said the hubs had improved beneficiaries' economic status while reducing the number of unemployed people who could potentially be diverted into subversive activities.
He said more than 1,000 youths had accessed free skilling at the Rwenzori hub, creating a need for more start-up funding.
State House Director of Presidential Projects and Presidential Industrial Hubs, Eng. Raymond Kamugisha, commended the Rwenzururu Kingdom for mobilising young people to embrace vocational training.
"I want to thank the Kingdom, especially the King himself, Charles Wesley Mumbere, who has been at the forefront of this programme. He has been rallying his subjects to join the hub for skilling," Kamugisha said.
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At the Ntoroko hub, Fort Portal City Resident City Commissioner Asumin Nasike said the programme was being implemented well.
"I want to inform you that this hub is performing extremely well. I have not experienced any issues of corruption," Nasike said.
She said several graduates had also been recruited into the Uganda People's Defence Forces.
"We received instructions on the recruitment into UPDF and we have recruited a good number without any questions. Their gate pass was a certificate from the hub," she said.
Bundibugyo District Community Development Officer Simon Mugisha asked State House to allow parents who can afford tuition to privately sponsor children because demand exceeds government-sponsored places.
Barekye rejected the proposal, saying the hubs were established to provide free training to underprivileged youths.
"Private sponsorship is not available, not because government doesn't want money, but because this skilling programme is for the underprivileged. If funds allow, we can only expand," Barekye said.
She added that beneficiaries are required to remain at the hubs during training and day scholars are not allowed.
