The National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, has pledged to expand skills training in his presidential hubs across Uganda.
Speaking at the combined Mbarara City and District rally at Booma Grounds, Museveni said testimonies from youths trained at the hubs demonstrate how their lives have changed through skills acquisition.
He announced that Plumbing, Electrical Engineering, and Automotive Mechanics will be added first, with plans to incorporate more trades in the future.
Museveni described the Presidential Initiative on Skilling as a game-changing intervention and noted that the Zonal Industrial Skilling Hubs currently offer courses in Carpentry, Welding, Tailoring, Hairdressing, Building and Concrete Practice, Bakery and Confectionery, and Leather Designing, with training lasting six months. By June, over 60,000 youths had received skills training. He encouraged Ugandans to utilize government programs to fight poverty.
Meanwhile, NRM chairpersons from Mbarara City, Mbarara District, and Rwampara appealed to Museveni to improve local infrastructure to boost development. In Rwampara, District NRM Chairperson Gordon Mutiima requested upgrades to Bugamba Health Centre IV to a district hospital and the construction of the Buteraniro-Bugamba-Rwoho road, highlighting how poor roads hinder agricultural outputs, including his 400 acres of coffee.
In Mbarara City, Party Chairperson Wilson Tumwine asked for the upgrade of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital to a national level to manage growing patient numbers. He also praised Museveni for approving the Nyakisharara Airfield expansion to international standards and requested the construction of a standard playground.
Both Tumwine and Prosper Tuhaise Kururagire, Mbarara District NRM Chairperson, requested the construction of the Biharwe-Rwasinga-Kabuhazya-Rwentama-Bwizibwera-Nsiika-Nyakashaka-Nyakabirizi-Kabwohe-Kitagata road.
Tuhaise also noted that Mbarara District lies in a cattle corridor with only 58% water coverage, while Rwampara has 87% coverage. Museveni pledged to construct both the requested roads, including the Ruti-Mwizi-Kabuyanda and Buteraniro-Bugamba-Rwoho-Rukoni roads.
President Museveni warned against politics based on tribal or religious lines, noting that the NRM integrates all Ugandans in all sectors, including security and public service.
The president will next campaign in Greater Bushenyi on Tuesday, covering Sheema and Bushenyi districts, and on Wednesday in Mitooma and Rubirizi districts.
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