The President of the Republic of Uganda, His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni a.k.a Ssabalwanyi has been quoted in various social media missives as referring to the younger section of Uganda’s population as “Bazzukulu”, the Luganda word for grandchildren. This is on the heels of the chaos that erupted after a rally he addressed in support of the NRM candidate during the recent Arua Municipality by-election. Hon. Kyagulanyi Ssentamu a.k.a H. E. Bobi Wine’s driver was shot dead and he, along with over 30 other Ugandans, have been charged with treason following the alleged stoning of the presidential motorcade.
This reference to youthful Ugandans as “grandchildren” received mixed reactions with some embracing it and reportedly planning a march of Bazzukulu while others out rightly rejected it as patronizing. It reminded me of Chairman Norbert Mao´s efforts to galvanise “Ugandans Below 40 (UB 40)” during and shortly after the 2011 presidential elections. To his and my disappointment as someone who wholeheartedly embraced his candidature and voted for him in that election, there were few takers among younger Ugandans.
As a leader that had been Guild President of Makerere University during the regime of the Ssabalwanyi, a two term Member of Parliament for Gulu Municipality and one term Chairman of Gulu District Local Government with an impressive leadership record in all those positions at a very young age, Norbert Mao would have had a real shot at the presidency if it were a different country with a different set of political dynamics.
An interesting fact is that President Museveni first stood for the presidency of Uganda at around the age of 36 in 1980. He eventually came to power in January 1986 at the age of 41 and appointed several of his bush war comrades to critical government positions while still in their 20’s and 30’s. He went ahead to heap all manner of insults at past leaders of Uganda, most of whom were from an older generation. He confidently heralded a new dawn for Uganda, “a fundamental change, not a mere change of guard”.
Norbert Mao’s candidature, and indeed the candidature of others including Dr. Kizza Besigye, was premised on the grounds that the NRM regime had reneged on several of the promises that it had made to Ugandans in 1986 and the years that followed. In addition to an impressive manifesto, Norbert Mao attempted to rally the youth, the majority of Uganda´s population, to take charge of the future of their country. Why therefore were the young people not able to organize effectively around a candidate who represented, in my opinion, their aspirations for the future and had a proven track record of leadership?
Most definitions for youth are “the period between childhood and adult age”, “a young person between adolescence and maturity” and “a young person who has not yet reached adulthood”. According to the African Youth Charter, however, “youth” means “every person between the ages of 15 and 35 years”. In Uganda, a youth is a person between the age of 18 and 35 years. If it is generally agreed that a person becomes an adult at age 18, why should the African Youth Charter still define that person for 17 more years as not yet mature? Why should Uganda set the minimum age qualification for one to stand for the position of Youth MP as 18 years, the very age when adulthood should begin?
Is it that those in power desire to use the propaganda of Gerontocracy as one of the weapons in their armour to continue to remain in power (a gerontocracy being a form of oligarchical rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population)? Is that the reason why young people have been labelled “ideologically bankrupt”, “hooligans”, “misguided by the opposition” and a host of other despicable names? Is it an attempt to maintain the illusion that those between the age of 18 and 35, the majority of the voting population, are still immature and therefore incapable of taking charge of their own future?
When will the “Bazzukulu”, the majority of the voting population, realize that they are all grown up and can therefore play a significant role in determining the destiny of their own country by carefully organizing and positioning themselves for the top leadership of this country?
Oyaka Makmot
Businessman & Guild President MUBS 2004-5