Minister cautions university student leaders against extremism at the ELP

Jinja, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Agriculture Minister Frank Tumwebaze has challenged University leaders to exercise tolerance for divergent views in order to stand out in the evolving governance systems.

While addressing Makerere University student leaders in Jinja on Saturday, Tumwebaze expressed dismay at the growing levels of violent extremism within higher institutions of learning with most students opting for confrontation and aggression as a way of dealing with conflicts.

The students converged in Jinja for a five-day retreat on quality leadership, service delivery, and responsible living. The retreat also known as “Emerging Leaders Program-ELP,” attracted 140 student leaders from Makerere University, to brainstorm on acceptable leadership practices geared towards transforming their political careers and general well-being.

The Emerging Leaders Program is championed by the Minister of Education Janet Museveni, in partnership with Life Ministries International and Global Leaders Summit. Through the arrangement,  student leaders in the different universities across the country will be equipped with leadership skills, and responsible living to avert health risks like HIV/AIDS, among others.

Tumwebaze argued that universities are key drivers of political career growth for young people and tipped them on tolerance in the primal stages of life to drastically improve their sense of judgment in the general governance of society. He stated that a section of students, who undertake political careers adopt confrontational tendencies and waste crucial time in avoidable fights for supremacy.

Tumwebaze added that listening is a virtue of any progressive leader and if students learn to habitually exercise tolerance to all political voices in their era, they will distinctively change the political trajectory of running the affairs in this country and beyond.

Tumwebaze added that student leaders are the right groups to pilot the acceptable leadership code and tested ethical standards, since most of them are reigning in their conception stages, with the ability to learn, unlearn, analyze, and adopt new things.

Barbra Kaija, the co-chair of Life Ministries International Uganda, said that the trainees have been equipped with curriculums entailing the Emerging Leaders Program concepts, which they will use to extend the acquired skills to the rest of the students at Makerere University.

Kaija stresses that the curriculum has been boosted with topics to address the derailing morality among young people, with most of them lacking self-respect and partial reverence for their parents.

Robert Maseruka, the Makerere University Guild president says that the concept of tolerance will drastically help young leaders to respect the virtue of free speech and the ability to analyze other people’s opinions, even when they are not agreeable to their current beliefs.

Maseruka argues that most of the student leaders are heading out for political positions during the  2026 general elections and offering them room to openly share ideas on acceptable practices is paramount in strengthening their political capabilities, with knowledge to transform the lives of their electorate, rather than fostering selfish demands.

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