By Our Reporter – Sheema
Over 200 youths from Sheema South have secured employment opportunities in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, thanks to an innovative partnership championed by Hon. Prof. Elijah Dickens Mushemeza, the Member of Parliament for Sheema County South.
Through Kasaana SACCO — a community-based savings and credit cooperative that Prof. Mushemeza helped establish — hundreds of youths have been able to access financial support to process travel documents and secure placements with reputable labour externalisation companies.
Before this initiative, many unemployed youths in Sheema South struggled to raise the money required to pursue job opportunities abroad. Today, the partnership between Kasasna SACCO and labour externalisation firms has changed countless lives, providing a lifeline to young men and women who are now earning decent incomes and supporting their families back home.
“Through Kassana SACCO, we decided to empower our people to access dignified jobs abroad. Over 200 of our youths are now working in countries like the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia — something that would not have been possible without this arrangement,” Prof. Mushemeza said.
Many beneficiaries credit the programme for transforming their lives. Some have managed to build houses, start businesses, and educate their siblings — a ripple effect of Prof. Mushemeza’s vision for inclusive development and youth empowerment.
As one of the founding members of Kassana SACCO, Prof. Mushemeza has not only promoted financial inclusion but also positioned the cooperative as a springboard for socio-economic transformation in Sheema South. His initiative has become a model for other communities seeking to address unemployment through practical, homegrown solutions.
Indeed, without Prof. Mushemeza’s foresight and leadership in establishing Kasaana SACCO and linking it with credible labour externalisation partners, hundreds of Sheema youths would still be jobless and struggling to make ends meet.
Kasaana SACCO continues to expand its reach, financing more young people to access overseas job opportunities and contributing significantly to reducing unemployment and poverty in Sheema South.
