President Museveni has called upon the youth to have a mission of unity for Africa, advising them against being mission-less like former President Idi Amin Dada.
Museveni was speaking at the third edition of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Continental Youth Symposium at Speke Resort Munyonyo.
During the speech, he asked the youth to advocate for and contribute towards political unity and coordination among the African countries.
"Being a youth is not only a biological qualification. One cannot simply go around hiding behind being a youth because of age without an ideological position. Some youths are confused. For example, confused youthful pharisees killed Jesus, a fellow youth," Museveni said.
According to Museveni, it is possible for youth to have wrong ideas that could disrupt the country and the continent. He gave an example of Idi Amin who disrupted the country and the continent because he harboured wrong ideas as a youth.
"One can be a youth but with very wrong ideas. Amin was a youth when we were fighting him for his terrible ideas. Therefore, you must identify what your mission is as African youth. Otherwise, you will end up like Amin,” he said.
The president said we cannot become prosperous by begging, but rather by being the vanguard of producing goods and services, protecting Africa against all threats, guarding our countries from politics of sectarianism supported by external forces.
The APRM is a mutually agreed upon instrument voluntarily acceded to by African Union (AU) member states as an African self monitoring mechanism.
The theme for this year's youth conference is: "Repositioning the Youth Agenda for a Transformative Continent."
It will run until Friday 8, July 2022.
