Stephen Kapere is the Founder & President of Youth for Charity Missions International (YOFOCHM) a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) registered in Uganda. Growing up in a society of inequalities, and faced with poverty, Stephen felt the need to mobilize, empower and engage young people into life changing programs that would add value unto their lives for the betterment of our communities and for God. Stephen then initiated community programs and projects in leadership, charity, evangelism, girl/women empowerment, skills training and children education sponsorships that have to date been of national importance.As much need to reach out increased, and with little funding to support his team execute a lot of activities at the organization, Stephen resigned his media job to fully commit to the organization. Since 2008, Stephen is a committed Activist with a great passion for God & Community – Based Initiatives in Uganda. And over the years, he is supporting & creating opportunities for young people in Uganda dedicating his life towards eliminating inequality, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.
MAYORAL CANDIDATE 2026 – 2031
I wish to work on the currently imposed high and unfavorable taxes that limit the spirit of entrepreneurs in carrying out and starting up businesses. To combat unemployment among young people, i have time to time organized entrepreneurship seminars, teaching and encouraging young people to be job creators not seekers and motivate on going business personnel but with time, we have found the heavy taxes being the factor discouraging them out of business. These are young people who most of them are fresh graduates and others from the informal sector. With any small capital, they are encouraged to venture into small businesses, opting for government consideration. With that failed, i see a need to fight for these young starters and already business owners that are small earners since they make up the biggest percentage of the unemployed.
These high taxes adversely affect the people’s ability to save. These progressive rates of taxation imposed reduce savings potentiality. This means low level of investment that has a tremendous effect on people and economic growth of a country at large.
We have a poor road system.Poor roads are one of the reasons behind the traffic congestion in our town that lead air pollution but also a waste of fuel making loss to some of our farmers transporting their harvest from villages to the city.
The bad roads that our current leaders have not given priority are but potholes. The chaos with the transport leaderships in the town which is stirred up by some of the local leadership not coordinating with the government.
Right from our homes people are getting sick due to pollution, the local authority contracts the pick-up of garbage to private companies who do not pick up the garbage on time, despite the fact that there are authority vans to do the work and, in many instances, the contracted companies highly charge people. This leaves those who can’t afford the costs with no option but to dispose off their garbage anywhere.
Pollution degrades the environment hence putting people at the risk of contracting diseases In addition to the hygiene, I want to restore the culture of “Bulungi Bwansi” and declare Saturday(s) a corporate day in the whole of our town as sanitation days “Bulungi Bwansi”
There is also an issue with our girls living in needy places of the capital city, battling with how to protect themselves during their menstruation periods. This most affects our school girls that miss classes and would eventually drop out of school, so I need to boast up our campaign for hygiene supplies for them. Water and sanitation are human rights, fundamental to every child and adult. In Kampala there are areas with poor sanitation and hygiene standards, no access to safe drinking water making thousands of children very sick and at risk of death.
I wish to regain our town’s glory, in terms of information/communication. People in our town are the last to know. Where are information centers? where is the leadership that should avail all necessary information to our citizens.
We can better the information flow by putting up more information centers that are easily accessible at every Division. The same way we spend on enforcement, is the same we can have Government flow/circulate information ground. Secondly, the Internet hotspot. How many hotspots do we have for town visitors and citizen to access that are free of charge? How effective are existent ones? They are actually operating in just a few suburbs.
Improved ICT will offer an opportunity to introduce new activities, new services into the town or to enhance existing services. It will play a significant role in combating rural and urban poverty and fostering sustainable development through creating information rich societies and supporting livelihoods.
That is my work for now 11 years.
From my past experiences I have been creating awareness about the youth challenges through my knowledge and circles. This has attracted donors, partners that have in turn supported the youth in our organization and helped them set up self-sustainable business. In the same spirit I will be lobbying for aid and finances from teams and organizations abroad.