Eng. Raymond Kamugisha, Director of Presidential Projects and the Industrial Skilling Hub, has announced plans by the State House to support graduates from the skilling hubs by providing them with tools and startup capital.  This initiative aims to help graduates implement the skills they have acquired. The announcement was made during a meeting held on Monday, October 4, 2024, which included graduates and district leadership, organized by the State House.  The purpose of the meeting was to track the progress of beneficiaries from the skilling program since their completion. During the meeting, many graduates expressed concern about being unable to start their own businesses due to a lack of tools and capital. However, some shared how beneficial the skills they learned have been in helping them find ways to survive.  Eng. Kamugisha urged the graduates to utilize their skills to combat unemployment and poverty, emphasizing that it is their responsibility to work hard to improve their lives. He highlighted that poverty undermines dignity and cautioned against rushing into marriage and starting families before achieving financial stability.  Additionally, Eng. Kamugisha encouraged district leaders to organize the graduates into associations based on their areas of expertise to facilitate support for them. He reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring that no graduates go to waste, mentioning that more than 20 graduates had already been connected with the UPDF Engineering Brigade for employment.  Ahamada Washaki, the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) of Kumi, pledged the district leadership’s dedication to linking young people with existing government programs like Emyooga and the Youth Livelihood Program (YLP) to help them secure working capital. Washaki challenged the graduates to be proactive and to pursue these opportunities.  Currently, Kumi has 79 graduates from the Soroti Industrial Skilling Hub trained in various trades, including carpentry and joinery, shoemaking, tailoring, bricklaying and concrete practice, welding, and salon skills.