The long-awaited construction of Wapa Memorial Institute in Mafudu sub-county, Sironko District, a presidential pledge made by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in memory of the late James W. Wapakhabulo, is finally set to begin.
A team from the UPDF Engineering Brigade visited the site on Thursday, 3rd April 2025 ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for April 11, 2025.
Wapakhabulo, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Second Deputy Prime Minister, and Speaker of Parliament, was a distinguished leader in Uganda. During his burial on April 3, 2004, President Museveni pledged to establish an institution in his honor.
The UPDF Engineering Brigade team, led by Lt. Col. Eng Peter Seku Kidemuka, met with Wapakhabulo’s family, led by Mama Angelina Wapakhabulo, along with Sironko district leaders at the site.
Speaking to our reporter, Lt. Col. Kidemuka, who oversees government-funded projects under the Ministry of Education and Sports, stated that their preliminary visit is to assess the site where the institute for training nurses and midwives will be constructed.
He confirmed that government has allocated UGX 47 billion for the project, and the UPDF Engineering Brigade has already received the funds.
Kidemuka also assured the community that the project will deliver high-quality work and benefit the local population through employment opportunities, improved education services, and increased land value.
Angelina Wapakhabulo, the widow to Wapakhabulo in an interview expressed her joy over the long-awaited fulfillment of the pledge.
“For years, we kept hearing that it would happen. Now, seeing the Engineering Brigade coming to set up a camp for construction to start on April 11, 2025, I can finally say, ‘Thank God,’” she said.
Sironko District LCV Chairperson, David Livingstone Giruli, also expressed gratitude to the government for honoring its commitment.
Giruli says that the project had been long overdue and thanked the President for recognizing Wapakhabulo’s contributions to the community.
With the groundbreaking now confirmed, the people of Mafudu and Sironko District eagerly await the realization of this long-promised institution.
