The State Minister for Gender, Labour, and Development in charge of Children and Youth Affairs, Balaam Barugahara, has asked students to embrace the Pan African Women’s Organization (PAWO) as a think tank that will nurture future leaders.
He said this during the official launch of the PAWO Makerere University chapter on October 30, 2024, and asked students to embrace the organization and push for Pan Africanism.
“Such Pan African groups play an important role in nurturing future leaders, and many past and current African presidents like President Museveni, the late Julius Nyerere, and Kwame Nkrumah all belonged to these great Pan African groups,” Barugahare said.
The Secretary General for PAWO Uganda, Grace Kabayo, who is also the Senior Presidential Advisor for Special Duties, said that PAWO was formed in 1948 and played a big role in backing up the struggle for African independence.
“PAWO is not new in Africa. It started in 1948 and was later recognized in 1962 by President Julius Kambarage Nyerere in Tanzania. PAWO was key in the formation of the Organization of the African Unity, which later changed to the African Union,” Kabayo said.
Kabayo also noted that Uganda was one of the first countries to embrace PAWO, and in Uganda they have over 16 chapters.
According to the Dean of Students at Makerere University, Winfred Kabumbuli, the Pan African think tank is key in nurturing future leaders and also giving a platform to many young people to advocate for their communities.
“We also believe that the chapter will empower young people to engage in politics and governance, positive engagement, and advocacy, and that’s the spirit we would like to encourage,” Kabumbuli said.
Benson Mutamba, a student at Makerere University and Pan Africanist, said that all great revolutions started with student leaders at university, and there is a need to have an education that inculcates national values and political culture,” Mutamba said.
Mutamba also asked the Makerere University administration to let students exercise their freedoms as long as they are not violent.
“We need to have freedom of speech, freedom of association, and all freedoms that can enable us to have a new breed of students who are vibrant and concerned about issues affecting their communities and the country at large,” Mutamba added.
PAWO’s mission is the total liberation of Africa and the institution of a joint body for all African States, and its overall goal is to address our socio-economic, developmental, and political challenges with a view to finding African solutions ourselves in all member countries and regions to improve the lives of our people.
The launch was attended by Minister Balaam Barugahara, Dr. Patricia Achan Okiria, the Deputy Inspector General of Government (DIGG) of Uganda, the Makerere University Dean of Students, Makerere student leaders, UNSA leaders, and other university students.
