Museveni tells youth to focus on Africa’s unity, market integration

President Museveni has advised African youth to shun anyone  opposed to the market integration of Africa and its unity.
“If you see an African youth who doesn’t talk about market integration of Africa, that youth is off the point. He just talks about youth until he becomes a former youth like myself, without adding any value,” the President said while opening the third African Peer Review Mechanism Youth Symposium at Commonwealth Resort, Munyonyo, yesterday. 
The symposium was held under the theme; reposition the youth agenda for a transformative continent.

President Museveni added that it is not easy for Africa, like Central America, to be prosperous even when they are producing quality services and goods if there is no market.
“Therefore, the mission of an African youth is if you don’t want to be like people in Central America,…you start creating wealth here and talk about creating a framework to grow it sustainably.  The answer to that is market integration,” Mr Museveni said.
He said African youth’s second mission should focus on strategic security to unite the continent so that it is able to defeat external and internal threats.

Several speakers called for more participation of youth in the governance of the continent, which Mr Museveni, said wasn’t the issue since some have a bad ideology. He cited the late Idi Amin Dada, the former president, whom he said was a youth but had bad ideas for the country and the continent, thus being toppled.
The President also cited the same reasons against Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, the former presidential candidate, who came second in last year’s presidential elections. 
The Ambassador of the European Union to Uganda, Mr Attilio Pacifici, said the youth contribute a big fraction to the African population and should play a major role in governance.

“We believe it is crucial to provide you the space to participate in designing the policies that will shape the future of our society and also to implement those policies,” Mr  Pacifici said.
He said youth voices are getting louder and the EU is fully committed to supporting their participation.
“The youth have a major role to play. They are eager to learn and to help our societies to find innovative solutions to the many challenges and problems that we face,”  the ambassador said.