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BY RICHARD DRASIMAKU
ARUA: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2025
When Tom Erejo, a resident of Okokoro town council in Maracha district finished senior four, his hopes of going further with education evaporated due to lack of school fees.
Erejo said he worried that he would join the plethora of young people rendered worthless due to lack of skills and entrepreneurial knowledge. It is common in West Nile to find such young people idling on rope meshes tied under trees by the roadside, waiting to beg “something small” from any passerby in order to survive on mirungi and other contraband.
However, Erejo saw a ray of light this year when he heard an announcement about a skills training opportunity at a skilling hub in Zombo district set up on the initiative of President Yoweri Museveni to turn around the story of many promising young people.
After expressing interest, Erejo was among the people taken for training in the fourth intake. They spent six months learning and honing their skills in different disciplines.
Erejo chose foot-ware craft and after the pass-out, he returned home to put his newly acquired skills to practice.
Like Boniface Adukule, who is now a trained welder accumulating experience from a friend’s workshop, the duo is awaiting guidelines from the State House of Uganda for revolving fund scheme to operationalize a savings and credit cooperative program in which the Office of the President has injected sh50m to support the graduates from the skilling hubs.
The zonal presidential skilling hubs were set up as an answer to challenges in the implementation of the universal primary and universal secondary education which has resulted in high drop-out rates.
President Museveni who is continuing to comb the West Nile sub-region for votes, has said the hubs are his vindication that free education is possible in Uganda.
West Nile has two presidential skilling hubs – one in Zombo district and the other in Adjumani district- that have in the past two years trained at least 80 youths per every district in West Nile, totaling to 1,040.
“When you listen to the story of these young people, many of them left school because these school administrators were charging extra fees. Of course I did not agree with them and I was saying let there be free education for all, let there be wealth for all,” asserted President Museveni.
Museveni also indicated that in spite of his disagreement with the school administrators over the extra fees imposed on children in UPE and USE schools, he did not have the appetite for a violent fight with the administrators.
“I chose a non-violent approach. That is how we started the skilling hubs,” he underlined. Museveni noted that graduates from the skilling hubs were making products that even university graduates cannot make.
At every campaign rally, Museveni has been delighted with testimonies from the graduates from the skilling hubs as they tell of how they have been able to become self-reliant and responsible participants in the economic transformation.
His campaign has continued to display on giant screen products made by some of the trainees, including wooden beds, chairs, clothes among others to the excitement of the cheering crowds.
Olivier Peace of Aii-vu sub county learnt bakery and is doing it expertly in Arua city which is the center of commerce in the region.
“let this opportunity not remain only with us Mr President. Support us with another skilling hub where we can also become trainers to pass on the skills to other young people who are stranded out there,” she told the president at Leju town council.
The training are totally free, and the young people are given food and accommodation on the bills of State House.
President Museveni said because of the accommodation component, the skilling hubs are more expensive to manage than primary schools that are day only schools.
Amos Cadribo, a graduate of Zombo skilling hub is one of those who learn brick laying and concrete practice. He says he is all set to begin work once the seed capital is given out to them.
Like Ronald Madrara of Azapi parish, they both come from Terego district and they have solid plans to start their own workshops for laying bricks and wielding soon.
The president directed on the seed capital that the handlers of the fund should first support a few to do serious work rather than split the money into small amounts that will not allow the beneficiaries to prosper.
Museveni said since 1960, there have been few people who study as private students but they pay heavily. The majority of the people do not have the same opportunity to go to expensive private schools.
“Now that the trainees have shown that we can train freely, I appeal to education stakeholders to implement free education,” he said.
At Leju stadium in Terego district when he asked the people, “do you support free education?’ they answered in a loud chorus, “yeeees!
“so in Terego the people have passed a resolution,” said President Museveni.
