How Museveni used binoculars to surround himself with youths as Bazzukulu

By Ben Ssebuguzi 

When you try to analyse the causes of the violent protests in Kenya by Gen-Z, you will realise that they were not entirely due to an increase in taxes. It was just a spark of fire. There seem other factors that have contributed to this mayhem that resulted in the attack on the Parliament and some diplomatic Assets in Nairobi which brought shame to Kenyans. 

If we are to go bare-knuckle, you will learn that Mr Ruto didn’t anticipate the impact of youths on the good governance of his country. He probably left the youths to be on their own and suffer alone which might have sparked the violence. He didn’t study the negative impact that would result from ignoring the relevance of educated youths yet the youths constituent 80% of the Kenyan population hence creating a leadership vacuum that led to unfair incessant demands of repealing the Financial Bill 2024 that would compromise the growth of their economy. 

According to the President of Kenya, H.E. William Ruto, Kenya will borrow more after the withdrawal of the Financial Bill 2024. He said that dropping the bill had set the country back two years as he explained the difficulty of being unable to raise extra taxes while facing a huge debt burden where they have to borrow $7.6b just to enable to run the government. 

How did President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni start to court youths and christen them as “Bazukkulu ” meaning grandchildren?

If I make a good recollection, President Museven started addressing Ugandans especially Bazzukulu during Covid 19 lockdown hence starting to give more preferences to the youths during his televised addresses and social media. This of course gives youths entitlements and a sense of belonging to their nation. 

At exactly 2:07 pm on November 23, the President posted on his timeline while addressing the Bazzukulu about how public officials were making Ugandans suffer losses of importing 2.5b litres of petroleum products per annum valued at about US$2bn using middlemen at the expense of Ugandans. He emphasized to the Bazzukulu his action plans to liberate them from such exploitation. 

In summation, a good leader needs to be able to identify potential problems early on and quickly resolve them, a special attribute General Yoweri Kaguta Museveni often carries. He has made the Bazzukulu at the centre stage while addressing the nation which has won him more reverence from Millennials and Gen Z hence mitigating the potential political risks.

It is also equally important to acknowledge that General Yoweri Kaguta Museveni decided to surrender his prestigious Office of the National Chairman (ONC) to the millennial and Gen Z of Uganda where all the workforce of coordinators are youths with an average age of 25 years. I don’t remember seeing old people at ONC. 

Furthermore, ONC is being managed by a youthful Hajjat Hadijjah Namyalo who is charged with the responsibility of mobilising youth into wealth creation. Commonly known as the Chief Muzukkulu, Hajjat Uzeiye Namyalo is very pivotal in addressing all youths’ challenges to the National Chairman and Father of the nation, General Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in addition to empowering ONC coordinators to monitor government programs in all districts of Uganda hence making ONC the bridge between the youths and the President. 

Additionally, ONC is still the pinnacle of youth empowerment because almost  90% of the ONC budget is geared towards buying self-empowerment tools including welding, grinding and sawing machines, seeds, chips making machines, chapati making machines among others which are donated to disadvantaged youths and women across the country which has greatly enhanced the lives of youths.

Similarly, as you are all aware that most government poverty alleviation measures like PDM and Emyooga are well-tailored to address 15% of youth unemployment which has boosted the lives of some young people. 

In the same breath, the State House has also shown its resilience by establishing the 21 industrial hubs in each region of Uganda where vocational and industrial skilling are given for free to the young people courtesy of our President. This has addressed the skills gap in the job market. This has acted as an antidote to the violent protests which are bad for the growth of the economy.

In conclusion, It is high time that African governments should start to strategise again and start to put youths in their day-to-day boardroom discussion to avoid the consequence of deadly protests which not only lead to loss of lives but also property like it has been the case with Kenya.

The writer is the Head of Research at Office of the National Chairman (ONC), Kyambogo