By Tanbull Akampa
Well, I want to write to you as a Ugandan, not far away from the Youth age bracket but also a Youth Professional worker who has been in the Youth movement for over a period of 10 good years. And I am soon graduating towards being a social development scientist.
Lt Gen MK, I am hoping that my writing is received in good faith and none of your mean looking men comes after me.
Whereas my writing will not focus on how the birthday was organized, which resources were used, I want to presume that funds were got from friends, well-wishers and family members and not from public coffers since birthdays are essentially supposed to be for close relatives, friends and family thing!
Of course your family alone can manage to sponsor the Birthday events that took place on 22nd and 23rd of April 2022, unlike some of us that are not lucky enough, to even raise tuition, school fees, medical bills, transport fees and money for food is equally a tag of war!
But I wouldn’t want to blame you for all our/my misery since my late Father did not go to the bush to fight the past bad regimes and neither did any of my Uncles or aunties!
The reason they are all peasants living on hand hoe agriculture even the little money they have been earning from coffee is about to be taken away from them!
Mr. MK, you have a Father who is a President, a mother who is a Minister, an uncle who is a president in our neighbouring Country Rwanda, several other uncles and aunties who are Generals in the army, others positioned in top notch Government departments and agencies, others are representing Uganda’s interests in foreign Countries and indeed Uganda is truly yours.
A birthday concert or rally or dinner of perhaps 5Billion is a ka simple thing! Allow me dwell much on some of the extracts from your speech you made at Kyadondo Cricket Oval with video clip circulating on media platforms.
I will first quote your words, “Solving the problems of Youth and looking into their interests, all they need is serious attention. All I know about Youth, since am very close to them. Is that youth like mainly two things mainly, sports and entertainment! We need to invest in sports facilities in this Country. Because they have too much energy and if you leave them idle, they become a problem. Let us expand and really give youth what they want. Let us invest in music industry, in film, all the arts will be a long way in solving the Youth problem and there is no mystery to it. It’s quite simple to solve! Ends the extracts from your speech.
Question: what makes you think you are close to the youth of Uganda? Are you close by age or association? Or as a leader? And if by association or as a leader, do you even know how many youth are jobless on streets and in villages?
Or how many have slept hungry tonight? First and foremost, you are not right on what youth want.
Secondly the youth are not a problem to be solved but rather a fundamental resource that needs a deeper and deliberate engagement policy to put them on top.
Youth are creative, innovative they need to see their products and services access markets and not be out competed by foreign Chinese products or companies.
Youth also need serious deals like Government tenders and contracts.
Those of us in business want tax holidays that have largely remained a reserve of foreigners or first family members and those who have access to gamba no’gu.
Youth want when they go to School, they are able to get jobs even when they have no any technical know who in public service offices.
Youth want their human rights defended and protected, we further want our voices, choices and decisions to be heard and respected including social justice.
Youth are toiling so hard to fight poverty but this they are struggling like Obwana bwe Mbeta (young ones of a duck) yet they’ve people like you who claim to be closer to them! What a joke?!
