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Buliisa, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Buliisa district is seeking for more than 400 million Shillings to fully operationalize Kirama Vocational Training Institute.
The institute was built ten years ago by the community with support from the Uganda Wildlife Authority-UWA under the revenue sharing scheme.
Situated in Kirama village in Kigwera sub-county, the institute was constructed to provide vocational training to Buliisa residents.
However, the institute has since been abandoned due to the lack of funding. The institute lacks instructors, furniture, equipment, and workshops among others.
Fred Lukumu, the Buliisa LCV Chairperson says the money is needed to construct a dormitory, purchase furniture, and install other relevant equipment needed for the vocational training. He adds that if realized, part of the money will be used to recruit instructors at the institute.
He however says, the community that initiated the construction of the vocational institute ten years back is currently financially incapacitated and can’t manage to run the affairs of the school hence abandoning it.
Lukumu stated that many youths from the district want to get vocational skills and work in the crucial oil and gas sector but don’t have where to train.
Lukumu says Buliisa district leaders have currently committed 50% of the Shs700m Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) revenue shares that the district received to complete the construction of the Vocational Institute and install other key equipment needed for the vocational training.
However, according to Lukumu, 50 percent of the 700 million Shillings that they received from UWA is inadequate to fully operationalize the vocational institute.
Annually, UWA remits 20% of its annual gate collections to parishes neighbouring Murchison Falls National Park like those from other conservation areas in respective districts.
Patrick Mulimba, a resident of Butiaba sub-county says, Buliisa district has no government vocational training institute noting that the operationalization of Kirama vocational training institute is crucial to boost vocational skills.
He says, that once fully operationalized, the school will help people to benefit from the oil industry once they have different relevant skills including welding and carpentry.
Ibrahim Musa, the Butiaba town Council LCIII Chairperson asked the government to take over the management of the vocational institute and provide sufficient vocational training to the people of Buliisa district.
He wants the government to equip the abandoned vocational institute to enable youths from the district to attain skills to work in the oil and gas industry.
In 2022, Buliisa district authorities tasked the government to take over the management of Kirama Vocational Training Institute which they said had been abandoned for years.
The leaders then stated that the government should take charge of the vocational school so that it can provide vocational skills training to the children in Buliisa district since it is the only vocational training school there adding that the district was financially incapacitated and can’t manage to run the affairs of the school hence abandoning it.
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