Hello, my name is Mr. Mwinganiza Godfrey (MSc ICTs for Development Nexus International University-Ongoing, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Makerere University). Thank you for visiting the Kagadi Institute of Science and Technology (KISTEC). It’s on record that Uganda has the world’s youngest population with over 78 percent of its population below the age of 30. With just under eight million youth aged 15-30. The country also has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Some studies show that “a total of 354,736 teenage pregnancies were registered in 2020, while 295,219 teenage pregnancies were registered between January to early September 2021. This implies that on average, over 32,000 teenage pregnancies are recorded per month.
With the increasing unemployment rates amongst the youth, I founded KISTEC with a mission of equipping people with skills for self-reliance so that they can be self-reliant and also meaningfully contribute to realization of the Uganda Vision 2040, African Agenda 2063, and Sustainable development Goals.
I started with one borrowed tailoring machine, and one laptop. Since 2018, KISTEC has grown from one tailoring machines to over 40 machines, from one student to now 100s students (this includes both the current students and the alumni) in different courses offered at KISTEC. The alumni are positively impacting on many people within Kagadi, Kyenjojo, Kibaale, Kyegegwa, Kikuube, Homa and the neighboring districts where KISTEC students are coming from. Our strength lies in our values of Unity, Resilience, creativity, innovation, flexibility and time management.
We have initiated partnerships with prominent organizations including but not limited to Tools to Work (Netherlands),Baylor Uganda, Busesa Community Development Organization, Kagadi District Local Government, among others. We are looking forward to meeting new likeminded individuals and organizations.
The government of Uganda under the leadership of H.E President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is emphasizing “Turning Youth into Manufacturers”. Our trainees are able to come up with tangible products and start earning even before they complete studies. Teenagers in the textile industries are able to clothes for themselves, their families and thus reducing on household costs. We have deliberately integrated ICT across all our courses to enable our students to effectively integrate ICT in their own businesses especially in research, planning, marketing, record keeping and analyzing the performance of their projects and most importantly come up with unique products.
Amidst these achievements, we have experienced challenges in accessing the right training materials, machinery, human resource and physical infrastructure. We believe that the power to create lies in having a great idea and consistently working towards the realization of that idea. KISTEC has greatly relied on your ideas and we acknowledge your contribution. We still count on your ideas and support in order for KISTEC to grow to maturity.
Support us to realize our vision of “Building a resilient, innovative, creative, competitive, and business oriented human resource base that meets local, national and international aspirations.”
Thank you
For God and My Country
Mwinganiza Godfrey
Founder and Executive Director
Kagadi Institute of Science and Technology
Email: director@kistec.ac.ug
Mob: +256777347275 /+256755347275
