By Our Reporter
The 2017 Young Achievers Awards winners have been announced.
They were unveiled at an invite-only event held at Kampala Serena Hotel on Saturday evening to coincide with the International Youth Day celebrations.
Among this year’s winners was celebrity stylist Ahumuza Brian aka Abryanz and Afrojazz band, Milege.
While accepting his award, Abryanz applauded the award organisers for creating a platform that spurs the youth to work hard and achieve their dreams.
“It is platforms like this that inspire young people to work hard and not wait to grow old to achieve their dreams.” He said, further noting that, “this is a win for the fashion industry because it has come a long way to finally earn such recognition,” as he dedicated the award to all young people working hard to perfect their craft.
On the other hand, Milege band revealed that they are trying to preserve the authentic Ugandan sound which is being eaten up by music commercialisation through different initiatives including the annual Milege Music Festival as they accepted their award.
The Young Achievers Awards, is an award program that was started over five years ago to identify and recognize young people in Uganda that have demonstrated excellence, innovation and leadership in their respective fields.
“The awards overall objective is to showcase the best examples of young entrepreneurs and leaders to serve as examples for their peers, so that they may inspire an entire generation to do just as much or even more.” Said Humphrey Nabimanya, the Team Leader & Founder of Reach A Hand Uganda.
Meanwhile, the recipients of this year’s special awards included Prof. Peter Mugyenyi for the Heroes Award for demonstrating excellence in fighting HIV/AIDS in Uganda and beyond. Ali Mufuruki, a renown Tanzanian businessperson and founder of the Infotech Investment Group LTD received the Lifetime Achievement Award for building being an advocate for youth empowerment across the East African Region.
Other special award categories included The Young Achievers Star Hall of Fame that was awarded to Hon. Amelia Kyambadde who has demonstrated exceptional commitment and sacrifice in supporting the Young Achievers Awards Program.
Here’s the full list of winners of the 2017 Young Achievers Awards:
Overall Young Achiever of the Year
ZIlla Mary Arach, Co-Founder of Lacel Technologies
Young Achievers Award for Business category
Ricky Papa Thompson, Co-Founder of SafeBoda
Outstanding Sports Personality
Jacob Kiplimo (Athlete)
Media and Journalism Excellence award
Ronald Wandera, Founder of ugextra.com
Innovations & ICT award
Gerald Otim, Co-Founder & Chief Operations Officer, Ensibuko
Social Entrepreneurship Award presented by UniTED
Muhammed Kisirisa aka Slum Ambassador, Executive Director of AFFCAD
Farming and Agro-Processing award
Zilla Mary Arach, Co-Founder of Lacel Technologies
Creative Arts: Music Category
Milege
Creative Arts: Fashion category
Brian Ahumuza of Abryanz Collection
Creative Arts: Film and Photography category
Ian Akankwasa aka Sasha Vybz
Lifetime Achievement Award
Ali Mufuruki
Hero Award
Prof. Peter Mugyenyi
Star Hall of Fame Award
Hon. Amelia Kyambadde