A number of possibilities and opportunities for young people exist within the East African Community (EAC). By fostering collaboration in the pursuit of building a borderless East Africa Region, young people will be the beneficiaries of this unity. Speaking at the fireside conversation also known as Ekyooto held at Julius Nyerere Leadership Centre (JNLC), Makerere University on October 13, 2023 Ms. Bhoke Wankyo Nyerere urged the youth to make good use of their innovation, creativity and the available technology to communicate in order to curb the challenges and at the same time appreciate the opportunities that come with regional integration.

As part of the two-day youth-focused symposium, the Ekyooto brought together thought leaders, the youth, academics and other stakeholders from across the region to envision and strategize for a more integrated and harmonious future of the East African youth.  Associate Professor Sarah Ssali, the Dean, Makerere University School of Women and Gender Studies and JNLC-Board Member moderated the fireside conversation under the theme, “Building a borderless East Africa.”

Ms. Bhoke Wankyo Nyerere, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s granddaughter who represented the Nyerere family at the symposium explained that a real borderless East African Community should be inclusive and people-centred with the youth as its primary target. She said that the young people need to take responsibility and use their innovation, creativity and the technology at hand to disseminate the information they have in order to bring onboard their fellow youth who may lack knowledge about the EAC.

“We are talking about the youth possibilities and opportunities and how to lead a borderless East African Community having the youth involved. According to Ms. Bhoke the greatest challenge lies in communication. Most of the young people do not know what the EAC is all about and unfortunately, some of them do not even care! With the available technology, you are all interacting through social media and to the majority of you-borders are not an issue. So, I think it is up to you, the young people to take the lead and share the information of EAC with the rest of the people within your countries,” Ms. Bhoke said.

Ms. Bhoke challenged the youth who are knowledgeable about the EAC work, to first of all help their societies appreciate what the Community is before reaching out to other countries. In her view, most of the East African Youth especially in the rural areas lack information about EAC and the opportunities a borderless East African Community presents. She however noted that a prerequisite to an integrated East African Community, is the need to put aside our differences, stay united and to respect one another.

“If we really want to succeed in uniting East Africa, we need to have that critical mass of young people who are creative, innovative and interested in the EAC integration. What is most important is respect for every person, despite our differences. We need to focus on the things that bring unity; those things that we have in common. We should look at our similarities and those are the things we should embrace, support and uphold,” Ms. Bhoke said.

In the same spirit, Dr. Saturninus Mulindwa Kasozi, Chair – JNLC Board of Directors and Director of Programs and Students Affairs at Uganda Management Institute (UMI) reminded the young people that they were privileged to have technology at their disposal. He noted that the JNLC creates a vibrant platform to give young people an opportunity to share their ideas in order to survive in the 4^th Industrial Revolution (4IR) and create a better future for East Africa and Africa at large. He urged the young people to use the different technologies, experiences and their cultural values to advance their society as well as the Pan-African ideals of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

“The opportunities you have should challenge you to possibly think about how you will survive in the fourth industrial revolution. You have been told about Artificial Intelligence (AI), but how are you exposed to it? How will you use AI to advance the agenda of your country, East Africa and that of Africa such that you can be able to be competitive in this global world where mankind must live and use the machines to advance the wellbeing of humanity, especially for Africans who are at threat because of technology,” Dr. Kasozi mentioned.

He pointed out that JNLC was initiated by His Excellency the President of Uganda to bring young people on board to advance the ideals of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere as a to preserve his legacy and advance the Pan-African agenda. According to Dr. Kasozi, JNLC has been intentional about providing the youth with information on the EAC and engaging them by organizing leadership trainings that bring together young people from different institutions to see how they can work together to unite and develop East Africa and the whole of Africa as envisioned by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

“If we recall, our forefathers created the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to bring Africans together. So,beyond thinking of getting visas to cross borders, what are you as the young people in your generation doing to bring together all the youth in East Africa and beyond? If you choose to move, what are you carrying with you across the borders? All you are looking for are employment opportunities. We want you to think beyond that and shape the future of East Africa to one where boundaries are no longer a hindrance to our movements,” Dr. Kasozi said.

Dr. Kasozi revealed that Africa is endangered and being re-colonized using indirect approaches. He therefore emphasized the need to address the mindset of young people to think beyond individualism and look at the big picture-their country, East Africa and the African continent at large. He said that JNLC provides a platform for the youth to share their ideas and think beyond their boundaries and he hoped that the JNLC and its programmes would nurture a cadre of young leaders who can promote the ideals of Julius Nyerere and drive the agenda of a borderless East Africa region.

Speaking about developing leadership skills, JNLC Executive Director, Dr. Nansozi K. Muwanga said that the Centre works to empower young people, especially student leaders, to do their job. She added that the Centre developed the JNLC leadership curriculum which is anchored in the ideals and ideas of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and Pan Africanism. She informed the participants that the Centre recently trained guild leaders from all over Uganda as a way to test-drive its newly consolidated and tailor-made leadership curriculum that now incorporates two new modules on Financial Literacy and Mental Health and Wellbeing.

“In partnership with the School of Languages, JNLC has developed a basic Kiswahili curriculum to go hand-in-hand with our leadership program that is supposed to provide a platform and a beginning for students to be able to communicate with other communities within East Africa. So, not only do you have the skills set to bridge the gap between academia and the workplace, but also the ability to speak a language albeit not perfectly that is currently used by over 152 million people across Africa, which is a good beginning.” Dr. Muwanga said.

Mr. Andrew Tumusiime, a member of the founding board of JNLC explained that the central point and focus must be on the rural youth who lack the exposure. He noted that most of the exposure has focused on the youth in urban areas.

He stated that as East African countries struggle to integrate, they still have a lot of challenges to overcome. Mr. Tumusiime expressed the need for the East African community member countries to ensure that they have a customs union and common market, adding that they cannot survive individually but as a team that continues to interact, benchmark best practices and build on each other’s strengths.

“It is true that East Africa has its own challenges such as slow economic growth implying that you have a small formal labour market. As a region, we have the biggest market anybody can ask for, we have the mineral resources that we can exploit and we have the labour force. This means that as we prepare to face our challenges, you would not only have to plan, but to prepare in order to have the right prepared structures in place. What we have to do is to have this great collaboration, set up taskforces with experts from different countries and timelines to achieve our objectives.” Tumusiime advised.

He told the elder generation of leaders that it is incumbent upon every individual in the East Africa community to strive and support the vision of the East Africa Community if they are to survive in the next generation that is waiting to see, audit and judge how well they have prepared for them.

According to Mr. Joram Nkumbi, the Country Coordinator of the African Youth Leadership Forum and representative of PLO Lumumba Foundation in Tanzania, there are a lot of possibilities in the East African Community, and the region cannot develop them without unity and integration. He said that a united East African region will realize a great market, unlike the one we have today.

“Remember all the four pillars of the East African Community and all its protocols; the customs union and the benefits it brings, the common market and the benefits it brings, the free movement of goods and people and some services from one place to another as well as the monetary union. Though we have not yet achieved them, they point to future possibilities. Once we achieve them, we will have the possibility of achieving regional integration where we have one government, one army, one voice and peace and security will be better. So, the development is almost impossible without these four pillars,” Mr. Nkumbi said.

Recalling the early years of the EAC before it collapsed, Mr. Nkumbi said that EAC was a better community with one single currency called the East Africa Shilling, one University, the University of East Africa, one telecommunications company, one railway system and one airline. He said that those are the possibilities that can be brought back when we come together as the East African Community.

“Our forefathers did what they could to bring us here, so, we must carry and refuel that torch of our great ancestors to spread the message of unity, integration and face the challenges we have. The next step is perhaps the most difficult one, but we must do it because we have no other option, but to assume this responsibility and burden of uniting ourselves. With this integration, we can exchange ideas, interact more with our friends in the region and come together. In Kiswahili-speaking communities, we have a proverb that says, ‘Umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu’ which translated means ‘Unity is strength, disunity is weakness,” Mr. Nkumbi remarked.

In her submission, Ms. Jovia Nazziwa, the Equity and Inclusion Lead–MasterCard Foundation Alumni Association Uganda reiterated that majority of the youth intervention programs have favored those in the urban areas, leaving the rural youth behind. Most of the platforms are within the urban areas where they would have live broadcasts on the televisions, online spaces, but then those in the rural settings may miss all those opportunities.  She said that majority of youth in rural areas cannot relate with the EAC topic due to the information gap.

“How can we achieve this objective by sending information to those in rural areas? Can we relate with the village systems or the districts systems and go back to being local with the areas that do not have the Internet, in areas where we know that people do not want to know because they are not informed about the benefits? We can take this information to the rural areas and share with them the benefits of integration like having a common market for their agricultural produce with no boundaries; letting them know that they can trade beyond Uganda,” Ms. Jovia Nazziwa said.

She noted that majority of the young people do not relate to most of the issues that concern the EAC. Furthermore, she pointed out the need to share the positive messages about the EAC, to give young people hope with the right information at the right time about the projects being developed and how the youth will benefit from them in the future.

“If projects are being created and planned and issues are discussed today but they are going to be beneficial at a certain time, let us share with them that information earlier and to know where to target and what to choose because when they get the information, they act. Those parents who received information about the existence of oil in Uganda sent their children to study oil courses and right now, some have PhDs in Oil and gas.  They received the right information that there will be Oil and it will be beneficial in the next 20 years, so, they were able to act on this information,” Nazziwa mentioned.

She urged participants and training institutions to always provide information in a positive manner.She noted that whereas the young people have various innovations in line with climate change, waste management and technology, they don’t know how to proceed and use that knowledge. She thus advocated for the need to provide the information, knowledge and mentorship to the young people.

H.E. Mariat Namiiro, the Vice President of Makerere University 89^th Students’ Guild proposed that the best way to achieve regional integration was to collaborate and share ideas regarding the EAC unity through the organization of debates among the fellow youth to sensitize and raise awareness, especially for those in remote areas.

H.E. Namiro believes that awareness is really important aspect of EAC unity. “Very many youths are not aware of the EAC. With awareness, I believe that they will get to know what it will feel like and why we should fight towards having that integration. Collaboration is also important. I would feel warm and pleased if at all we can share as youth of East Africa, combine ideas and see how we can help each other,” H.E. Namiiro said.

In his opinion, H.E. Alionzi Lawrence Dangote, the 88^th Guild President of Makerere University said the EAC opportunities for the young people are right in the possible solutions to problems that are found in realizing full integration of East Africa. According to him, what they ought to do is to draw inspirations from the journey that they have walked as the EAC, and completely address themselves to what they ought to do as the young people to come together and unite for a cause.

“If the young people through the Uganda National Youth Council demand for the EAC integration, and the youth in their engagement programmes put pressure on their government and use every avenue they have to speak up, that the future is about the integration of East Africa more than before, this might be their most prominent contribution.” Mr. Alionzi said.

Alionzi highlighted the successful journey that has so far been walked in the integration of East Africa. He said that as early as the year 1917, Uganda and Kenya came together to form the customs union which Tanzania joined in 1927. Important to note was the year 1977 when the EAC was dissolved due to economic disparities among the member states, with Kenya way ahead of others, and also due to significant differences in political ideologies. Fortunately, it was revived in the year 2000 when Burundi and Rwanda joined.

Wrapping up the session, Associate Professor Sarah Ssali commended the stakeholders and management of JNLC as well as the young people for the active participation that made the conversation both provocative and informative. She called upon all stakeholders and young people committed to the region’s growth to join hands and work collectively in the transformative journey towards achieving a Borderless East African Community.

The JNLC Fireside conversation (Ekyooto) was one of the activities in the two-day youth symposium to commemorate Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s ideals. Hosted by Julius Nyerere Leadership Centre in partnership with Uganda Management Institute and Makerere University, the Symposium aims to foster and maintain the strong values of African unity and Pan-Africanism that Mwalimu Nyerere stood for.

Mwalimu Julius Nyerere passed away on October 14^th 1999. To commemorate his passing, Nyerere Day is observed annually on 14^th October. The Annual Nyerere Symposium, which is now part of the Makerere University activity calendar provides JNLC and Makerere University with an opportunity to recognize Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere, one of its distinguished alumnus who fought for the independence of Tanzania and Africa in general.

 Article by: Mak Public Relations Office and JNLC