Youth fund turns around life in Amuru

AMURU- Every morning, Mr Charles Okwera, 29, walks 4km to Pabbo Town Council to collect leftover food for his pigs. Mr Okwera invested Shs1.1 million a year ago to start up his own piggery unit.

Mr Okwera is one of the 13 members of Kicaber Agwayugi Youth Brick laying project in Pabbo Sub-county, Amuru District, who benefited from the Youth Livelihood government Programme (YLP) three years ago.

When the group received Shs4.8 million funding under YLP, they invested it in bricklaying in 2015.
However, after paying back the funds in 2017, Mr Okwera and five other group members have reinvested each of their shared profits into personal enterprises.

“I am hopeful that after the sale, I will buy for myself a piece of land and maintain the piggery unit. Subsequently I plan to marry a wife when I stabilise,” Mr Okwera says.

It is not only his group that has achieved from their venture, others are Pabbo Disabled Rice Hurler Youth group and Gen Meri Youth Brick Laying Group) are among the many youth groups in the district.

Mr Mike Otim, a member of Pabbo Disabled Rice Hurler Youth Group, says after repaying the money they were given, the group has diversified their economy.

“Much as the hurler business is on, our produce buying and selling is also going on and we distribute the savings at the end of the year. When we got the money, we made sure that we focused on what we had agreed on the project and made sure we kept the money well,” Mr Otim says.
Since 2014/2015 financial year when the district started implementing the project, a total of 118 youth projects have been financed to the tune of Shs912m.

Out of Shs274m amount due on demand by Ministry of Gender, the district by December 2018 had recovered Shs201m pushing them to a 73 per cent recovery ranking by Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

The 118 funded projects bring together an estimated 1,534 youth beneficiaries according to authorities.
Mr Richard Otika, the YLP focal point person for Amuru District, in an interview said out of the 118 projects, 45 projects paid back to zero balance, 51 groups are midway with their recovery while the rest (22 groups) have not paid anything.

“We now rank 73 per cent in recovery from 33 per cent in 2017. If these youth can start their own ventures and get money from it, we can say it has achieved. We intensively trained and monitored them in their operations in order to arrive at that.

“We are convinced that YLF has yielded fruits in our district because these young men and women are employing themselves and earning from what they do,” Mr Otika said.

At least 550 beneficiaries have been documented to have started their own businesses ranging from brickmaking, produce selling and buying, goats rearing and piggery.

Mismanagement
However, some records show that Oberabic Youth Produce Buying and Selling and Labongo Abim Youth Produce Buying and Selling both in Amuru Sub-county, who got Shs8.4 million and Shs7.5 milion respectively, have not recovered any money two years down the road.

Mr Otika said some group leaders mismanaged the money while others divided the money and dissolved the groups upon developing misunderstandings.
“Others stole the money or used it to marry wives and we registered cases where others disintegrated due to conflicts and misunderstanding over changing projects yet the guidelines do not allow so,” he said.

Solutions
Mr Michael Charles Lakony, the Amuru LC5 chairperson, says a lot needs be done to have the programme achieve further in terms of frequent communication among leaders and politicians.

He said unless amendments on approaches are made, little could be achieved.
“You cannot give youth loans without fully sensitising, monitoring and training them on how to run the projects,” Mr Lakony said
Mr Pius Bigirimana Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, told this newspaper that the ministry will improve the programme once Cabinet came up with amendments.

“Cabinet has issued new guidelines that I am meant to communicate to district leaders. This time the money will be sent directly to the beneficiaries’ accounts but not to the CAOs as previously and we hope to see a lot of changes,” Mr Bigirimana said.

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