Students of Carpentry and Joinery making products at the training center. Photos by Arnest Tumwesige
By Arnest Tumwesige
Napak: When President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni visited Kimengo Sub-County, Masindi District, in January 2025, he issued a directive that skilled graduates from Uganda’s zonal industrial hubs should be financially supported.
That pledge has now reached Karamoja Sub-Region, where 11 graduate SACCOs located in 11 districts and municipalities have received UGX 550 million.
Each group received UGX 50 million in August 2025 to invest in businesses linked to the skills they acquired at the Karamoja Zonal Hub Industrial Skilling Centre.
For many young people across the region, the funds represent more than financial support. They symbolize a chance to break cycles of poverty, abandon cattle raids, and begin new, productive lives.
At 22, Beatrice Acuku has known her share of struggle. A resident of Atunga Sub-County in Abim District, she sat her Primary Leaving Examinations in 2023 and scored 20 aggregates. She tried to pursue a tailoring course in Lira City, but domestic challenges forced her to drop out after two months.
With no clear options, Acuku turned to brewing local alcohol to fend for herself and her siblings. But luck found her when a friend told her about the free training at the Karamoja Zonal Hub in Napak District.
“I didn’t hesitate. I applied and was admitted,” Acuku recalls. She is now training in bakery for six months. “After this, I will return home with hope. I plan to use the SACCO capital support to start my own bakery business and supply bread and cakes to my community,” she told GNNA.
A Hub that Bridges Hatred
Sitting in Lokitodad Village, Matany Sub-County, Napak District, the Karamoja Zonal Hub has already graduated over 1,000 students. But its influence goes beyond teaching carpentry, bakery, tailoring, or bricklaying, welding and hair dressing. It is also healing old wounds.
According to Charles Lotiang, the hub’s manager, the institution is overturning decades of tribal conflict.
“In Karamoja, we have lived with deep divisions. The Jie of Kotido, the Pian of Nakapiripirit and Nabilatuk, the Matheniko of Moroto, we saw each other as enemies,” Lotiang explained. “But when our youth train together, they start living as one team. Already, the mindset is changing.”
He believes the hub is sowing the seeds of peace. “In the next five years, raiding will stop. Why? Because when one thinks of going to raid a neighboring district, he will remember that those are the same people he studied with here,” he noted.
He added that the shift is evident. Young men who once raided to acquire cattle for dowry are now using their new skills to work hard, earn money, and buy their own livestock or venture into businesses like livestock trading.
The hub’s role in peacebuilding is also recognized by the security sector. Assistant Commissioner of Police Francis Chemusto, commander of the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) in Moroto, praised the hub for addressing conflict at its roots.
“When learners from different communities interact, they share experiences and new ideas,” Chemusto noted. “It reduces suspicion and hostility, and helps them find lawful ways to uplift their communities.”
Learning for Change
Emmanuel Lochoro, from Kangole Town Council in Napak District, comes from a family of eight but is a total orphan since 2018. For survival, he turned to cattle rustling, following in the footsteps of many young men in the region.
“I thought raiding was the only way,” he admits. But when a friend introduced him to the hub, he enrolled for a carpentry course. “Now I see a different future. After training, I plan to start my own workshop and help my siblings to live better. I want to be a role model.”
For Paul Moding Numerator, 28, from Kotido Municipality, the training is more than just technical. Enrolled in bricklaying and concrete practice, he describes it holistic in nature.
“We are taught financial literacy, customer care, how to source clients, and even public speaking. It is mindset change, not just skills training,” he said.
From the Streets Back to Hope
The impact of the hub is also visible in efforts to repatriate children from Kampala’s streets.
Robert Abia Owili, the Chief Administrative Officer of Napak District, said: “About 95% of street children in Kampala are from Napak. When they return, some join formal schools, while others choose the skilling hub.”
Many of those trained are now applying their skills. “Some are working at Moroto Cement Factory. Others are part of projects like the new council chambers being built in Napak, which is a presidential pledge,” Owili explained.
Below is a pictorial of different scenes of students undergoing the training, their products and repair tasks.
