Mbarara City Mayor and National Resistance Movement (NRM) flag bearer, Robert Mugabe Kakyebezi, has called on President Museveni to address unemployment in the city by prioritizing the establishment of an industrial park.
Kakyebezi made the appeal during a Monday campaign rally at Booma Grounds, also known as the Golf Course, emphasizing that the park would create jobs for youth from the greater Ankole region.
“I want the president to prioritize establishing an industrial park in Mbarara City, which will act as a regional hub so that our children from the greater Ankole region can get jobs here,” Kakyebezi said.
He highlighted the government’s efforts in improving infrastructure and supporting social and economic groups through programs like Emyooga SACCOs, noting that roads have been repaired and bridges like Katete Bridge attended to.
Former Mbarara City Mayor and NRM Chairman Wilson Tumwine urged the government to consider offering land in the Ruti Forest Reserve for industrial development.
“Our young entrepreneurs have done amazingly well, but they need more land for expansion. We have been proposing the Ruti Forest Reserve so investors can establish factories,” Tumwine said.
President Museveni responded positively, expressing willingness to establish the industrial park but noting that Ruti Forest Reserve is too small.
“The Ruti Forest Reserve is small; we need bigger land. Establish a larger area and I will bring you an industrial park like the ones I gave to Kampala and Mbale,” Museveni said.
Mbarara City currently hosts over 20 factories, including beverage, soft drink, hardware, and tin refinery industries, alongside a presidential industrial hub.
Meanwhile, Mbarara City Woman Member of Parliament and independent candidate, Rita Atukwasa Bwahika, highlighted the need to upgrade Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital to national referral status.
“We have a regional referral hospital that currently serves citizens from neighboring countries. We request the government to consider upgrading it to national referral status,” Atukwasa said, adding that population growth since the city became a regional hub necessitates expansion of facilities and new infrastructure.