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JNLC Hosts Youth Leadership Training for Secondary School Student Leaders
The Julius Nyerere Leadership Center (JNLC) recently concluded a transformative three-day Youth Leadership Training program for secondary school student leaders. Held at Makerere University, the program brought together young leaders from six schools to build leadership competencies and instill core values inspired by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s principles.
Facilitators and Participating Schools
The program featured renowned facilitators, including Dr. Gardner Rwakiseta, Mr. David Nyaribi, Mr. Henry Kasacca, Mr. Saazi Ronald, Ms. Allen Baguma, Ivan Sabastian Ssegawa and Ms. Gloria Jombwe. The schools represented at the training included Kitante Hill School, Taibah International School, St. Mary’s College Kisubi, Luzira Secondary School, King’s College Budo, and Makerere College School. Each school sent a delegation of at least five student leaders, such as head prefects, speakers, and other prefects.
Program Highlights
Over the course of three days, participants engaged in interactive sessions on decision-making, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and servant leadership. These sessions were designed to challenge the students while cultivating a mindset centered on integrity, purpose-driven leadership, and service to others.
Widening the Scope of Leadership Training
Dr. Nansozi Muwanga, Executive Director of the JNLC, emphasized the Center’s mission to groom young leaders for societal transformation. “Since our inception, we have trained university leaders from across Uganda and received positive feedback. This success motivated us to extend our training to secondary schools,” she said. The initiative reflects the values of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, including Pan-Africanism, accountability, and transparency.
Dr. Muwanga highlighted that this program was a pilot initiative aimed at assessing its effectiveness in secondary schools. “After three years of training university student leaders and supporting Makerere University during guild leader inductions, we felt it was time to cascade these efforts to younger students,” she explained.
JNLC’s Legacy and Objectives
Founded in 2018 on the initiative of His Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the JNLC aims to honor and preserve Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s legacy. The center focuses on:
- Conducting policy-relevant research to bridge gaps between academia and practical policies.
- Fostering cross-generational dialogues on African history, Pan-Africanism, peace and security, and revolutionary movements.
- Training youth and emerging leaders.
Dr. Muwanga emphasized the importance of equipping young leaders with moral integrity and a service-oriented mindset. “Our youth program addresses leadership skill gaps while integrating emerging issues such as social media, digital literacy, mental health and well-being,” she said.
Empowering Young Leaders
With 78% of Uganda’s population under 30, the center’s programs aim to prepare young people to drive national progress. “You are not only the leaders of tomorrow but the influencers of today,” Dr. Muwanga told participants. She underscored the importance of ethical leadership, which fosters teamwork and reduces corruption.
Ms. Gloria Jombwe highlighted the inclusion of topics like financial literacy and emotional intelligence in the training to ensure holistic development. “Leadership intersects with various life spheres, and understanding these connections helps leaders to serve effectively,” she said.
Insights on Leadership and Resilience
During his session, Dr. Gardner Rwakiseta stressed resilience as a key leadership trait. The need for resilience is key regardless of the situation that you are going through. “As a leader you need to be resilient, but how do you build resilience so that you maneuver the storm? One, you need to have values that are aiming for success, and then equip yourself with the skills to accompany your values,” he guided. In sum, “resilience equips leaders to navigate challenges effectively. It stems from strong values and practical skills,” he noted, drawing inspiration from President Museveni’s steadfastness in the face of criticism and ridicule on social media.
Mr. Ssazi Ronald encouraged participants to adopt servant leadership. “True leaders focus on lifting others. Leadership is not about self-interest but about guiding people toward collective success,” he said. He also disclosed plans to expand the program to more schools in future editions, aiming to create ambassadors within participating schools.
Reflections from Participants
Tabitha Nakayenze, Head Prefect of Luzira Secondary School, expressed a renewed commitment to servant leadership. “This training has inspired me to prioritize the needs of others, just as Mwalimu Nyerere did. I hope to demonstrate unity and equality in my leadership,” she shared. She believes many leaders today are self-centered, which hinders service delivery, but, trainings like this inspire young people to emulate leaders like Mwalimu Nyerere, who prioritized the greater good.
“Before coming here, I only knew Nyerere as the first president of Tanzania, and one of the people who fought for freedom of other people. Today, I have learnt many things about Julius Nyerere including the principles of pan Africanism, equality, and unity, and I hope to demonstrate these to my fellows,” she said.
Goodluck Kia Omondi echoed similar sentiments, highlighting the significance of servant leadership. “Learning about Nyerere’s life has taught me that leadership is about service. This training has been eye-opening,” he said.
“I am delighted to be part of this training. When you get exposed to Mwalimu Nyerere’s life, you see a person who dedicated his life to impact other people’s life through servant leadership. From the training so far, I have learnt that leadership is about service to others. Many people who get to office are self-centered, but I have realized that service is key to leadership,” Omondi said.
Mwalimu Julius Nyerere: A Brief Legacy
Born on April 13, 1922, in Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania), Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a teacher and Pan-Africanist who later became the first President of the United Republic of Tanzania. Educated at Makerere College in Uganda and the University of Edinburgh, he championed values of equality, unity, and freedom. His leadership principles continue to inspire generations across Africa.
The JNLC’s Youth Leadership Training for secondary school leaders marks a significant step in nurturing ethical and capable young leaders to shape future policies in their schools and communities and later in Uganda and beyond.
The Ag. Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic Affairs), Prof. Buyinza Mukadasi on Tuesday 29th April 2025 met with a delegation whose vision is to transform Uganda into East Africa’s premier digital skills hub through equipping 200,000 youth and professionals with digital and cybersecurity skills by 2027. The ambitious programme is a strategic collaboration between Deborah’s Impact Projects Africa-Uganda (DIPA-U), Africa World Train Center (AWTC) and the Office of the First Lady of Uganda (OFLU), with Ugandan Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as partners.
The delegation included; Ms. Elinor Wanyama Chemonges-Head DIPA-U, Ms. Betty Byanyima-Emerging Leaders Program (ELP)/DIPA-U, and Ms. Beat Bisangwa-OFLU. In attendance were Prof. Tonny Oyana-Principal College of Computing and Information Sciences (CoCIS), Dr. Rodney Rugyema-Deputy Dean of Students, Mr. Awel Uwihanganye-Head Advancement and other officials.
The presentation by the delegation noted that the proposed programme creates a dual benefit of addressing digital opportunities and creating sustainable employment in high-growth digital sectors. The programme will begin with foundational IT and cybersecurity training before branching off into specialized career tracks in technical cybersecurity, compliance, IT Helpdesk, tech sales and marketing.
The training will be implemented in three phases commencing in May 2025 with IT fundamentals before delving into specialized career tracks and industry certifications in December 2025, and thereafter, workplace integration, business partnerships and freelancing skills in the third phase slated to commence in 2026. 20,000 participants are anticipated to be trained during the first phase, while the second and third phases envision training 80,000 and 100,000 participants respectively, bringing the total to 200,000.
The Uganda Digital Pathways Initiative was officially launched by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Mrs. Janet Kataaha Museveni on 22nd March 2025, where the first student, Miss Precious Keza pre-registered for the initiative. The event held at the Freedom Square, Makerere University was part of the Mantle of Deborah National Conference, an apostolic and prophetic movement aimed at equipping women for leadership, purpose and national transformation.
In his remarks, Prof. Buyinza welcomed and thanked the delegation for choosing Makerere University as partner for the initiative, adding “Our business is training; anything to do with digital skills improvement is welcome and we are excited and committed to transform the mindset of our graduates so as to make them more marketable.”
He further lauded the delegation for including the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) in the deliberations, noting that Makerere is always appreciative of inroads made in linking industry with academia for skills enhancement of graduates.
Contributing to the discussion, Prof. Tonny Oyana reassured the delegation that CoCIS is will be happy to co-create and co-design curricula with the initiative, which he opined can be offered as a short course. “We look forward to designing an experience that gives measurable outcomes.”
Furthermore, Dr. Rodney Rugyema underlined the Office of the Dean of Students willingness to mobilise students to pre-register for the initiative. He nevertheless requested the delegation to share more information on what will inform enrolment for the specialized career tracks so as to enable participants envision how their skills will contribute to the greater goal of transforming Uganda into East Africa’s premier digital skills.
Today’s meeting will be followed by a virtual meeting with the Africa World Train Center (AWTC) to further thresh out finer details on curricula and implementation.
Participants are encouraged to pre-register using the link: https://www.africaworldtraincenter.org/digital-pathways
A delegation from the University of Zululand in South Africa, led by Professor Byron A. Brown, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Engagement and Transformation, is visiting Makerere University on a two-day benchmarking mission focused on Africanising education and strengthening research collaboration.
During their visit, the delegation held discussions with the Vice Chancellor, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe; the Ag. Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Professor Buyinza Mukadasi; the Ag. Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, Professor Winston Tumps Ireeta; Professor Sarah Ssali, the Director of the ARUA Centre of Excellence in Notions of Identity and the Director of Research, Innovation and Partnerships, Dr. Robert Wamala.
The discussions explored opportunities for integrating African perspectives and knowledge systems into university curricula, enhancing research networks across the continent, and fostering partnerships that empower African institutions to contribute meaningfully to global scholarship. Both institutions reaffirmed their commitment to the decolonisation of education and the promotion of African-led research initiatives.
In a symbolic and heartfelt gesture, the University of Zululand delegation presented a traditional Zulu spear and shield to Professor Nawangwe. The gift was accompanied by a message of solidarity and encouragement—to equip him in the ongoing struggle for the decolonisation of the curriculum at African universities. Professor Brown explained that the spear and shield represent the resilience, courage, and determination needed to reclaim African narratives in education.
Receiving the gift, Professor Nawangwe expressed his deep gratitude and reiterated Makerere University‘s commitment to championing African-centered scholarship and knowledge production. He noted that true transformation of African education must involve redefining curricula to reflect the continent’s histories, values, and aspirations. In return, he presented to Prof. Brown a book with the history of Makerere University.
The two-day mission is expected to pave the way for stronger collaboration between Makerere University and the University of Zululand, including joint research projects, faculty and student exchanges, and shared initiatives aimed at promoting Africanisation in higher education.
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