Julius Nyerere: “Beware of leaders who come to you with promises but no principles. True leadership empowers; false leadership exploits.”
The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) December 2024 report provides critical insights into the country’s population structure, youth demographics, unemployment rates, corruption index, and infrastructure development. These statistics highlight challenges and opportunities that require government intervention to achieve meaningful socioeconomic transformation in 2025 and beyond, which provide key yard sticks for 2026 National Elections.
Looking at the Key Statistics and Their Implications on the majority young generation as per service delivery.
Uganda’s population reached 45.9 million, with *youth (15–24 years) constituting a significant portion, With nearly half of the population below 15 years, Uganda’s demographic dividend remains underutilized. This has a significant implication.
The large youth population represents a potential economic asset, but without proper or quality / sustainable education, skills development, and employment opportunities, this demographic could exacerbate socio-economic issues like poverty and dependency.
The youth unemployment rate is at 10.8%, while 42.6% of youth are Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEET).This High NEET rates reflect a failure in aligning education systems with labor market demands.
This implies a growing number of idle youth increases the risk of social unrest, crime, and political instability as it is seen in the neighboring African countries.
This cancerous disease has potential failed to reduce in our motherland. Some Political scientists have often said it is intentional. Corruption is eaten our country to the bone marrows. It is known that if you don’t belong to a strong political family or “Gambanogu” you don’t expect a strive for a better government job yet Auditor General’s report gave us over 600,000 jobs with ghost workers-dead, abroad, non-existent etc. and no leader is unbothered.
Uganda scored 26/100 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, ranking 141st globally. Corruption in public procurement, service delivery, and infrastructure projects undermines development efforts.
The skyrocketing rate of Corruption erodes trust in governance and limits resources available for youth programs, infrastructure, and job creation.
Uganda’s road network remains predominantly unpaved, with significant disparities in electricity access between urban (57%) and rural (18%) areas. Poor infrastructure hinders economic activities, especially in agriculture and trade. Limited infrastructure reduces the potential for industrial growth, rural development, and job creation for the youth.
I recommend strongly that the Youth-Focused Industrialization, Development of the Agro- processing industries, manufacturing hubs, and tech start-ups in every region of this country depending on the geographical need assessment and National Natural Resource Endowment.
Tax Incentives must be revised. Let government offer tax breaks to businesses employing youth or investing in skills development which has been done by the government of HE. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni but this needs thorough revision since most youth who get skills die with them because of lack of START -UPs. Some of the youth are identified politically, and many people bias this program.
AKANSASIRA JUNIOR VICTOR,
Patriot, Pan Africanist and Writer.
0702969211 / 0785499836
vj.akansasira@gmail.com
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