Walter Akena

He joined the Premier Skills programme in 2013 and now coaches Acholi United Football FC, a football club with 25 girls and 19 boys. Most of the young people who fled the war in South Sudan have settled in the region.

Walter’s initiatives target these young people to engage them in football training and participate in community tournaments.

People in northern Uganda suffered from war in the early 2000s and many young people still stay in settlement camps with limited opportunities to play football. With football as a change agent, we mobilise young people and train them in life skills. Premier Skills programme offered me skills in working with young people and I have travelled to many communities in the camps to engage and scout for talent from the grassroots. Twenty young children have so far benefited from bursaries to continue schooling and play football for their school teams.