Kadaga asks for factories, vehicles from South Korea
Speaker of Ugandan Parliament Rebecca Kadaga
Kampala- Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has asked a delegation of Members of Parliament from South Korea to lure more investment in Uganda for the unemployed.
Calling the scenario of unemployed youth “dangerous,” Ms Kadaga appealed for more factories to translate into jobs “for our children.”
“If you could facilitate more factories, more investments, more opportunities so that our people get more jobs, I think it is dangerous to have our young graduates jobless,” she said.
Ms Kadaga was meeting the South Korea Parliamentary Forum led by legislator Mr Lee Ju-Young, who had come to drum up support for their bid to host the 2023 International Scout Jamboree.
Ms Kadaga assured the South Koreans of Uganda’s support for the bid, saying: “You are the only ones I have seen, so expect our full support,” to the thunderous applause of the South Koreans.
Leading the Uganda Scouts Association officials, Works State minister Gen Edward Katumba Wamala said the Ugandan delegation should be facilitated to travel for the voting in Azerbaijan, short of which they may not participate.
“We are supposed to have a delegation of six but we don’t have a clear source of funding; that will be the cause of our absence (at the event),” he said.
Speaker’s pledge
Ms Kadaga pledged to facilitate the travel of two MPs, and promised to talk to donors to bankroll the Ugandan Scouts delegation.
Mr Lee commended the bilateral relations between Uganda and South Korea, saying it was strengthened by President Yoweri Museveni’s visit to the Asian country, which former President Park Geun-hye reciprocated in 2016.
Ms Kadaga used the opportunity to lobby for vehicles to facilitate the travel of Parliament’s committees, a request the South Koreans promised to convey to the manufacturers.
“When I was a junior minister of Foreign Affairs, there was a type of vehicle that the South Korean government would always bring to Uganda,” she said.
She added: “I would want to have an opportunity (to have the vehicles) for the committees of my Parliament if it is still available.”
The South Koreans are now headed to the Democratic Republic of Congo to meet the Congolese Scout Association to drum up support for their bid.
