Kasubi Emyooga beneficiaries want to meet Museveni

Beneficiaries of Kasubi parish carpenters Emyooga sacco pride in transforming the lives of once street thugs into reliable bread winners for their households.

These say some youths have been gotten off the streets of Kampala and imparted with skills in carpentry which has enabled them to earn a decent living.

In Kasubi parish, Kawaala zone lies the Kasubi parish carpenters Emyooga sacco with 123 members, 80 of whom are youths dealing in wood related items as their primary economic activity.

Alfred Olupot, the sacco secretary says before the onset of Emyooga program, the sacco lacked enough machines to make furniture which limited their production capacity.

" Machines were not enough, we used to go to Bwaise to get machines to do carpentry which was costly, but when we were given a grant (seed capital) now we can produce enough furniture and are no longer incurring the transport costs," Olupot said.

Darius Waswa, a sacco member says he got skills and started eco friendly charcoal briquettes. Darius further says as a ghetto youth he has been shaped into a life changing citizen.

The sacco has been able to expand the workshop, open a bank at the showroom where members save and get loans from.

The sacco received shs 30 million as seed capital, net loans 37 million,  loans given 72.6 million total savings 39 million  and shares of  shs2.4  million

Solomon Ssali Sentongo a member says he was once a jobless thug on the street until the sacco leadership recruited him to learn carpentry where he has been able to look after his family.

" I was once a thug on the streets doing illegal work but I thank the sacco leaders and president Museveni for getting is off the streets, I can now work earn money and help my family and I have also bought other things like rearing chicken," Sentongo noted.

Sentongo urged other thugs still on the streets to embrace and be part of government programs.