Northern Uganda gets sh380b development grant

By Chris Ocowun

THE UK through the Department for International Development (DFID) has pledged a sh380b grant to fast-track development in northern Uganda, Prime Minister Prof. Apollo Nsibambi has disclosed.

He said part of the grant had already been disbursed to the Government.


“The grant will fast-track development and empower communities to demand for better services,” Nsibambi said in a speech read for him by the northern Uganda state minister, David Wakikona.

This was during the launching of the Economic Recovery Analysis study in northern Uganda at Churchill Courts Hotel in Gulu on Friday.

Part of the money, according to Nsibambi, will be used to fund the private sector foundation grant scheme for five years and support to the Northern Uganda Youth Development Centre at Labora in Gulu as a way of focusing on skills enhancement for the youth. “We hope that by supporting the centre, the youth will be empowered with skills in agricultural production, brick-laying and motor vehicle mechanics,” Nsibambi noted.

Christopher Musoke, the private sector adviser with DFID, said UK was committed to work with the Government to ensure the success of the Peace Recovery and Development Programme.

He added that equitable economic growth was essential for peace building and reduction of conflicts, crime and violence. Musoke said the grant would be disbursed to the Government between now and 2015.

He noted that the UK, through DFID, is ready to strengthen local government capacity for equitable service delivery and management, rebuilding and empowering the most affected conflict communities and enabling the government, civil society organisations and communities to engage in peace building and reconciliation.

Nsibambi explained that skills enhancement will make the youth not only capacitated in terms of skills, but also help them earn a living independently through marketing their skills.

“As government, we regard the youth as the hope for the future of our nation and therefore believe that they must take a central position in our development,” he added.

Nsibambi said his office is tasked with the mobilisation of resources and effective implementation of the Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) as a mean of achieving affirmative action for the north and north-east which have suffered conflict over a long period of time.

“We expect that by 2015, 1000 applications will have been processed and a grant worth sh80b of new investment opportunities approved and implemented in northern Uganda,” Musoke said.

“We hope that many female headed businesses will take opportunities of these grants and 100,000 youth trained in vocational and micro enterprises skills with 30,000 of them being female,” he added.

Wakikona advised donors against giving conditions that make it difficult for the poor communities to access grants to better their livelihoods.

The function was attended by local leaders from fifteen selected districts in Bukedi, Mt. Elgon, Teso, Karamoja, Lango, Acholi and West Nile regions.