The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development Permanent Secretary, Pius Bigirimana has asked the Minister of State for ICT and National Guidance, Aidah Nantaba to get her facts right after she made claims in an interview that money under the ambitious multibillion Youth Venture Capital Fund (YVCF) has been squandered.
Hon. Nantaba’s claims against the Youth Venture Capital Fund and Labour Export shocked the nation on Saturday, April 14, 2018 when the Red Pepper newspaper carried a story on its page 5.
“The story had patently false assertions informed by the unawareness of the modus operandi of specifically the Youth Venture Capital Fund and the labour export services,” PS Bigirimana said in a statement. “The article cast the ministry and some of its Programmes in false light.”
Mr. Bigirimana added that the claim that money under the Youth Venture Capital Fund has been squandered is tenuous and utterly wrong as the fund is managed by and embedded at Centenary Bank, which is the exclusive point of access for all beneficiaries.
“Since the inception of the Fund in the year 2012, the responsibility of overseeing the Fund has been in the hands of Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. It was only on 16th May, 2017 when this responsibility was transferred to the Ministry of Gender upon the decision of Cabinet,” he explained.
In the interest of making the fund more accessible for the youth, the Ministry of Gender immediately undertook to review the terms and condition of the Fund in collaboration with Centenary Bank, for which the two partners should be applauded.
“We wish to inform the public that selection of beneficiaries and appraisal of projects under this Fund is handled directly by Centenary Bank and there is no money under this Fund that is being ran by the Ministry of Gender,” he continued.
The Ministry claims that unlike Nantaba’s allegations of corruption, to-date, 26,944 youth across the Country have benefited from UShs. 95.7 billion under the Fund while the Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP) which has to-date financed a total of 13,107 projects supporting 163,130 beneficiaries.
Nantaba also claimed that the Youth Venture Capital Fund is linked to the Externalization of Labour Programme and that the Fund has been diverted to finance persons seeking employment abroad. “The fund caters for those youth who wish to access funds as individuals, as well as those in smaller groups,” Bigirimana explained.
“On the issue of youth going to work abroad; labour is a mobile factor of production with a will. Individuals will seek employment opportunities across borders with or without Government intervention. However it’s important to note that the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has taken steps to regularize the export of labour for the obvious reason of ensuring safety of Ugandans, especially in the Middle East countries.”
So far, bilateral agreements have been signed with Jordan and Saudi Arabia and negotiations continue to bring onboard other countries, Bigirmana said.
Just last week, the government commissioned the External Employment Management Information System which will revolutionize the sector.
