President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has called on Ugandan artisans and entrepreneurs to shift from working individually to forming family or group-owned companies, emphasizing this as the path to sustainable wealth and intergenerational prosperity.
Speaking during a visit to the Kigo Carpentry and Skilling Centre in Kigo Mutungo Ndejje Parish, Makindye-Sabagabo Municipality in Wakiso District, President Museveni accompanied by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Maama Janet Kataaha Museveni underscored the dangers of fragmented individual operations particularly in managing land and shared resources.
“I want to know who the owner is, you people should form a company and work together, this tendency of working individually is risky, I am taught the Banyankore not to divide land when the time for inheritance comes,stay united and work as a family,” President Museveni urged.
He warned that land fragmentation breeds inefficiency, chaos, and stunted growth, pointing to his own family’s example, where he and Maama Janet established a family company to ensure collective productivity and shared profits.
“Europeans developed by forming companies through families, that is how they advanced,leave backwardness and embrace that model,” he emphasized, encouraging Ugandans to adopt practices that promote collective economic power.
The President pledged continued support to the centre, promising Shs500 million for the centre’s SACCO to help expand production capacity and secure raw materials. He also committed to improving road infrastructure to ensure better access for customers and facilitate smoother transport of goods.
“All other issues are easy, but the formula for working together is what matters, if you get it right, everything else will follow,” President Museveni stated.
He further tasked the State Minister for Youth and Children Affairs, Hon. Balaam Barugahara, to engage the leadership of the centre to refine ownership structures, user fees, and training strategies to enhance the centre’s sustainability., raising concerns about free training programs, he advised:
“Right now, you are training people for free. That’s not sustainable. You should have sponsors who pay fees to the centre. You are becoming donors—it’s too early for that. Let’s have a formula that benefits both trainers and trainees.”
The Kigo Carpentry and Skilling Centre, which now boasts 588 members skilled in carpentry, metal fabrication, tailoring, and weaving, traces its roots to 2016, when a group of desperate artisans blocked President Museveni’s convoy in Munyonyo.
At the time, they pleaded for assistance after enduring repeated evictions by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), leaving them without a stable place to work.
Mr. Majid Kigundu, Secretary-General of the centre, emotionally recounted that pivotal moment: “We told you our story. We were struggling in Nsambya, being tossed around by KCCA. You listened and gave us carpentry and tailoring machines, Shs100 million for our SACCO, and even told us you had sold your cows to buy us this land.”
Today, the centre has evolved into a thriving hub of skilled artisans, generating local employment and contributing to tax revenue. Mr. Ivan Ainebyoona, Chairperson of the centre, expressed gratitude to the President: “Whenever it rained or the sun was too much, we were worried, but you came and rescued us. We now work in dignity. We are happy, and history will remember you.”
Looking to the future, Maama Janet pledged to encourage schools and government agencies to procure products locally from centres like Kigo, ensuring that artisan skills translate into tangible market opportunities.