Opposition party says 64% of youth Unemployment demands radical budget reforms
Justice Forum (JEEMA) has criticized the government’s handling of the youth unemployment crisis in Uganda stressing that it is a direct consequence of deliberate policy failures rather than economic circumstance.
In a press release issued on Labour Day, Dr. Swaib Kaggwa Nsereko said 64 percent of Ugandan youth aged 18 to 30 are unemployed or underemployed, a situation he described as “bad governance, not bad luck.”
“Graduates sell chapati and ride boda boda, making our country a boda boda and kikomando economy,” Dr. Nsereko said. “Skilled youth flee to the Middle East to become modern day slaves also called Kadama.”
In what he called a “betrayal by budget,” Nsereko argued that the 2025/26 and 2026/27 national budgets allocate less than three percent to industrialization and skills development, while extending UGX 1.8 trillion to classified expenditure and luxury vehicles.
The party said Uganda produces 400,000 graduates annually against only 90,000 available formal jobs, a mismatch it blamed on the curriculum reform process at the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC).
JEEMA dismissed presidential skilling hubs as “temporary political handouts” and called labour externalization a “state sponsored desperation, not employment.”
Among its demands, JEEMA is calling for 10 percent of the national budget to be ring-fenced for industrial parks, agro-processing, and technical and vocational education with job guarantees. It also wants the removal of the Over the Top (OTT) tax, a cut in fuel levies, and a three-year tax holiday for SMEs that hire youth.
JEEMA also wants 50 percent of university funding redirected to practical skills, internships, and start-up capital. It is also demanding a ban on labour externalization until Uganda guarantees minimum wage and worker protections both at home and abroad.
“Sovereignty is meaningless if citizens cannot feed their children,” Dr. Nsereko said.
