Kikuube district fails to recover Shs 900mln from youth

KIKUUBE, October 30, 2026 — Kikuube District Local Government has failed to recover more than Shs 900 million from youth groups that benefited from the Youth Livelihood Programme [YLP] implemented countrywide under the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development [MGLSD].

Adam Shabe, the Kikuube District Youth Chairperson, said several youth groups that received funds to establish income-generating activities and create jobs had failed to repay the money into the revolving fund, denying other young people an opportunity to benefit from the programme.

Shabe said since the inception of YLP in Uganda in 2014, youth in Kikuube district have received Shs1.26 billion, which was disbursed to 146 groups, but only about Shs 300mln has so far been recovered.

He attributed the poor recovery rate to several factors, including the impact of COVID-19 and climate change on businesses, particularly those engaged in agriculture.

He said the money was intended to operate as a revolving fund and warned that failure by beneficiaries to repay it was preventing other youth from accessing the funds.

“I think the failure by group members to pay back the money started right away from the formation of the groups, or the youth were not sensitised on how to utilise the money, which is seed capital,” Shabe said.

He urged district technical staff and political leaders to engage beneficiaries and ensure that they understand their obligations and repay the funds.

Shabe said similar challenges were being experienced among beneficiaries of the Parish Development Model [PDM], a government programme launched in February 2022, to move 3.5mln Ugandan households from subsistence farming into the money economy.

He said youth are entitled to 30 per cent of PDM funds, adding that Kikuube District has so far received about Shs 10bln under the programme, of which Shs 1.761bln has been allocated to 1,761 youth beneficiaries.

However, he said there was little tangible impact from the funds, raising concerns that some beneficiaries may not have used the money for its intended purpose.

“The youth who benefited from PDM money have not started paying back. Over Shs 1.7bln was given to the youth to help them create income-generating activities, but when you go into the villages, you do not see anything. It means you are misusing the money, if not, there is another problem,” he said.

Nelson Bakikore, the Kikuube District Community Development Officer, acknowledged that several youth groups had been supported through YLP but were reluctant to repay the funds.

He said the beneficiaries had been sensitised and equipped with financial literacy skills, but some youth had developed a poor attitude towards government-supported programmes.

Bakikore also said some beneficiaries had mistakenly interpreted PDM funds as a political token of appreciation from President Yoweri Museveni for giving him votes rather than a loan that should be repaid.

“Working with different stakeholders, we are going to compile these groups, at least from the first to five years, and see how to supervise them and make them pay back the money. But the truth is that the groups are there and they received the money, but they do not want to pay back,” he said.

Under PDM, each beneficiary receives a soft loan of Shs 1mln to invest in selected enterprises, including coffee, dairy, piggery, poultry and fish farming, among others.

Kikuube District Woman Member of Parliament Florence Natumanya said leaders were concerned that government programmes, particularly YLP, were benefiting only a few individuals.

She attributed the challenges partly to the size of administrative units and inadequate sensitisation of beneficiaries on how to manage and utilise the funds.

“Kikuube district is a big district; our administrative units are too big. We are finding that the youth are not benefiting properly from YLP, but we also find a challenge that most of the youth who benefited from the programme are not paying back. If they fail to pay back, it means others will not benefit since it is a revolving fund,” Natumanya said.

“When you ask where the people who have benefited are, they do not show up. We have also discovered that the technical staff are giving out the money without training the beneficiaries, so you find that the businesses they start do not succeed,” she added.

Natumanya and other leaders were speaking during the belated celebration of International Youth Day held at Sir Tito Winyi Primary School in Kikuube Town Council on October 15, 2026.

Former Church of Uganda Archbishop Stanley Ntagali also warned young people in the Bunyoro Sub-region against living recklessly, urging them to use their youthful energy and time productively.

https://thecooperator.news/three-years-on-nebbi-women-struggle-to-repay-uwep-and-ylp-loans/

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