BUDUDA: Bududa district youth have been requested to return funds received in 2016 under the Youth Livelihood Fund by Sarah Mateke, the state minister for youth and children affairs. (Image credit: Andrew Nakhaboya)
During the Bududa district’s Youth Day celebrations, the minister gave the order without naming the defaulters. She was speaking on behalf of Jessica Alupo, the vice president, who was the primary guest.
The young Livelihood Programme (YLP) is a government intervention initiative funded by the Ugandan government that was created in response to the high young unemployment and poverty rate in the nation.
The primary goal of the initiative, which was introduced in FY 2013–14, is to enable young people to realize their social and economic potential and raise their income levels and prospects for self-employment.
The minister said on Thursday that just 266 million, or 32%, of the 758 million shillings that the government gave to 70 groups in Bududa during the fiscal year 2014–2015 had been returned.
She noted that compared to the districts she has visited, Bududa is not doing well in terms of payments, therefore she asked some of the beneficiaries to take the money and return it so that other waiting kids might benefit.
But the state minister for Karamoja affairs and a member of parliament representing the Bududa people, Agnes Nandutu, urged the young people to choose worthwhile projects that can make money.
The YLP focal point, Beatrice Wakooli, stated that they are putting more pressure on the people who stole the money to return it so that others may borrow it.
Nine groups have received more than 75 million shillings for the district. This indicates that the program is still active in Bududa, however it faces difficulties due to poor loan payback.
The youth chairperson Bududa, Deo Kutosi, attributed the loan repayment on the absence of operating capital, which they would have needed to relocate in order to recuperate. The majority of young people, he continued, misuse money and have no means of repaying it.
