Ghetto Structures: Shs3.2 billion Injected, Shs5 Billion in Pipeline, 200,000 Youth Benefiting Across 5 Cities

The Ghetto Structures Initiative has marked four years of operation, recording significant milestones in youth empowerment, crime reduction, and community transformation across Uganda’s urban informal settlements.

Launched on August 5, 2022, at Lugogo Indoor Stadium by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Maj Gen (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire and Kampala Minister Hajjat Minsa Kabanda, the initiative was established as a collaborative effort between State House and the Directorate of Crime Intelligence.

Its core objective is to organize, skill, and economically empower ghetto youth, steering them away from crime, political violence, and exploitation.

Since its launch, the program has expanded to five major urban areas, including the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area, which includes Mukono District, Masaka, Jinja, Mbale, Fort Portal, as well as Luwero District.

Kampala remains the epicentre, with the initiative structured across 216 ghetto zones.

According to the Director of Crime Intelligence, Major General Christopher Damulira, the program currently benefits an estimated 200,000 ghetto youth living and working in these zones.

A key pillar of the initiative is the formation of Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations (SACCOs).

In the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area, there are 12 SACCOs, each receiving Shs100 million from President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, totaling Shs1.2 billion.

Similarly, Busoga has 12 SACCOs that also received Shs100 million each, amounting to another Shs1.2 billion.

In Mbale, eight active SACCOs received Shs100 million each, totaling Shs800 million.

In total, Shs3.2 billion has been injected into SACCOs under the Ghetto Structures Initiative.

President Museveni has further promised to inject Shs1 billion into each SACCO in the five divisions of Kampala, totaling Shs5 billion, which is currently in the pipeline.

He explained that Kampala’s larger population and the responsible use of funds by beneficiaries justified the additional investment.

“I sent Brig. Ddamulira and Major Kutesa to mobilise you and form SACCOs. They told me that now you have 12 SACCOs in Kampala. I’m injecting Shs100 million in each SACCO starting now, and this is just the beginning,” President Museveni said at the launch event at Kololo Independence Grounds, urging beneficiaries to embrace transparency and collective responsibility.

The President commended leaders involved in the initiative, particularly Gen Damulira and Maj Emmanuel Kutesa, for what he described as “bringing light into the ghetto,” and emphasized that ghetto youth are an integral part of Uganda’s socio-economic transformation.

He encouraged the youth to create wealth through the government’s four key economic sectors commercial agriculture, industry and artisanship, services, and ICT pledging continued state support through skills training and start-up capital.

Beyond livelihoods, the initiative has also registered notable security gains.

According to Gen Damulira, the Ghetto Structures Initiative has significantly reduced crime rates in Kampala because those who previously engaged in criminal activity now have “a gain to protect” arising from the SACCOs.

“Those riding a boda, those with a chapati stall will not engage in violence because they know their small business will be affected,” he said.

Ghetto Structures has also excelled in identifying and supporting budding talents, including singers, painters, and other creatives within informal settlements, helping them transition into productive economic activities.

Gen Damulira believes that if the government formally adopts Ghetto Structures as a structured national program similar to PDM, YLP, or UWEP, it would greatly benefit ghetto dwellers and significantly contribute to Uganda’s socio-economic transformation.

As it enters its fifth year, the Ghetto Structures Initiative is positioning itself as a long-term model for urban youth empowerment, combining security intervention with economic inclusion to transform informal settlements into productive hubs.