Stop wasting time on foreign football clubs, Museveni tells graduates

The President urges youth to instead support his government’s programmes that aim at developing Uganda.

President Museveni yesterday asked Kyambogo University graduands to stop wasting time watching the European English Premier League and shift their efforts to supporting the government to plan for the country.

President Museveni, who was represented by the Vice President, Ms Jessica Alupo, indicated that the problem of Africa is not natural resources, but developing human resources to take advantage of them.

“Instead of wasting time supporting European football clubs like Arsenal, Barcelona, Manchester United, etc, please join the NRM (National Resistance Movement)’s effort to industrialise and modernise Uganda through science and technology,”Mr Museveni appealed in a statement read by Ms Alupo.

According to the President, some small countries without enough natural resources like the ones Uganda has, are more developed and richer, citing an example of Japan, which lacks natural resources and land for agriculture but is very rich.

He also cited China and India, which he said have developed because of their robust human resource base, adding that the two countries produce on a large scale and are big consumers.

“We in NRM have been talking about Pan-Africanism, to achieve unity of 300 million East Africans and 1.3 billion Africans to create new markets and a pool of manpower,” Mr Museveni added.

He also asked students who have graduated in the humanities to re-orient themselves towards acquiring practical skills and competencies required in the job market.

“It is not too late. You have acquired an educational baseline upon which you can build to acquire other skills and knowledge outside your fields,” Mr Museveni said.

His speech was read yesterday on the first day of Kyambogo University’s 20th graduation ceremony at the main campus in Kampala. The ceremony ends on Friday. At least11,721 students, including 6,017 females and 5,704 males, are expected to graduate during the four-day ceremony.

Yesterday, 3,146 students from the Faculty of Special Needs and Rehabilitation, and those from the School of Management and Entrepreneurship, graduated. 

While addressing the graduands, the university Vice Chancellor, Prof Eli Katunguka, revealed that the institution is set to construct student hostels with 5,000 rooms to accommodate 10,000 students so as to “provide a conducive learning environment for our students”.

Prof Katunguka added: “We are also mobilising the alumni of Kyambogo University to partner with the university in the construction of a student centre. This facility will house guild offices and the office of the Dean of Students in addition to providing routine amenities for students such as shops, beautification facilities, and indoor games.”

The University Chancellor, Prof John Okedi, indicated plans to develop and review undergraduate and graduate programmes, among others.

Graduation week

A total of 2,699 students from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, School of Vocational Studies, School of Arts and Industrial Design, and Faculty of Agriculture are expected to graduate today. These will be followed by 3,242 students from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Science, School of Computing and Information Science, and School of Built Environment to graduate tomorrow.

On the last day, 2,634 students from the School of Education, Faculty of Engineering, and the Institute of Distance Education and E-learning will graduate. During the four-day graduation ceremony, the university will confer at least eight PhDs and 219 master’s degrees in various fields.