The Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, Hon. Balaam Barugahara has appealed to the youth to stay away from acts of impunity in order to become good citizens of Uganda.
“As a minister of the young people, I want to congratulate you upon completing the patriotism course. I also want to advise you to avoid smoking and taking alcohol because they reduce your lifespan. Do not fall in love when you are still young and as you go for holidays, those old women in the villages should not seduce you to give you milk and money for upkeep, be wise and do everything at the right time,” the Minister said.
Hon. Barugahara made the remarks yesterday while passing out 830 students of Ntare School in Mbarara City who successfully completed a seven-day patriotism training course. The participants included students of Senior one and five.
He urged the students who could be having small-scale businesses back home to interest themselves into free revolving funds like the Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP).
“The President has sent me to inform you the youths who could be having groups or businesses in the villages about the government programmes.It is a matter of going to your District Production Officer for guidance on how to apply to get this money because you do not need a land title as security,” he advised.
“All you need is two guarantors to ensure that they know you and once you get that money, use it well and you will never regret in life, you will kick poverty out of your life, community and the country at large.”
The YLP initiative was initiated by the government of Uganda to combat the accelerating rates of unemployment and poverty among the youths in the country and perhaps create sustainable solutions and opportunities for the young generation.
Currently, 458 youth projects in Kampala have been funded and over 5,000 youths across all the five divisions of the city have benefited since its inception in 2014.
The Commissioner of the National Secretariat for Patriotism Corps (NSPC) in the Office of the President, Ms. Hellen Seku applauded all stakeholders for accepting to leave their children behind for an extra seven day-off the term to go through the training.
“I want to thank the head teacher, board of governors and parents for organising and allowing these patriots to stay at school for an extra seven days. It takes a patriotic mind .I want to also thank our senior patron and a senior OB of this school H. E the President Yoweri Museveni for spreading the patriotism program throughout the country, ” said Seku.
Ms. Seku also commended the trainees for the resilience they displayed throughout the training and urged them to love their country and shun every evil that might come their way.
“I want to applaud you for taking up the training like champions, the indomitable lions of Mbarara and Uganda. In doing so, you have fulfilled the constitutional duty and responsibilities as citizens of this country. From here, I want you to shun all evils like corruption, sectarianism.tribalism, religious differences and be united as a country for us to be a greater nation.”
Mr. Saul Rwampororo, the Head teacher of Ntare School said he believes after the training, the school is going to receive a new brand of students next term.
“I want to thank President Museveni for putting up this initiative. The boys have shown a zealous character to learn and the training has ended as an active and dedicated one .I hope it will impact the school especially in the discipline area and it will even benefit the students more in future when they get careers,”said Mr. Rwampororo.
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