Last Thursday during the plenary sitting and Prime Minister’s Time, the Kaberamaido District Woman MP, Amongin Jane Frances Okili, tasked Government to explain why multi-million agro-processing equipment procured for Kaberamaido Technical Institute (KTI) has remained idle for five years.
She told the House that in 2021, Government, through the Uganda Skills Development Project funded by the World Bank, procured high-value agro-processing machines for KTI intended to strengthen vocational training, promote value addition and equip students with practical skills but a significant portion of this equipment remains uninstalled.
Responding to the matter in Parliament, the Minister of State for Education and Sports, Hon. Ogwang Peter, confirmed that KTI is fully equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, but the challenge has been staffing.
Ogwang noted that the Ministry is pushing to secure a wage bill to recruit the right instructors to operate the equipment procured to support the technical institute.
He assured Parliament that the Ministry will work with the MP to resolve the matter.
”I want to assure my colleague we will be able to have this done together with you and soon we’ll organize and visit the institute with the Commissioner in charge of TVET in the Ministry of Education and Sports,” he added.
The status of the equipment at KTI is worrying, with three of the proposed plants lacking structures to house the equipment, leaving the costly Government investment redundant.
Authorities emphasized that completing the project will enhance technical education, create employment and transform KTI into a Centre of Excellence in agro-processing for the entire Teso Sub-region.
