Museveni turns to students to fight corruption 

President Yoweri Museveni is now looking up to the youth to help his efforts in the fight against corruption according to the state minister for Children and Youth Affairs Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi.

While presiding over the pass out of 830 student patriots of Ntare School in Mbarara city who have been undergoing patriotism training for eight days, Barugahara said the time for the corrupt officials in Uganda is coming to an end.

He advised the students to desist from the habit of escaping from school which could result in alcoholism and drug abuse.

“Patriots are good people. The country depends on you, the patriots. So the president wants to see you loving your country. He wants you to say no to acts of impunity, he wants you to say no to acts of corruption. That is very very important. He says you’re the champion of tomorrow so you champion the anti-corruption crusade. He doesn’t want to see you associate with corruption…so tell your parents if at all some of them are corrupt, the time for the corrupt has come to pass,” said Barugahara. 

At the same event, the commissioner for the National Secretariat for Patriotism Corps, Hellen Seku encouraged parents to regulate children’s access to the internet to ensure that they don’t rely on it for knowledge. She said one of the core values of patriotism is to love and attain knowledge, but most Ugandans below 40 years refer only to the internet for knowledge. She said whereas this is good and commendable, learners need to also visit libraries and read books. 

“The internet is for everyone you cannot differentiate the correct and the wrong. However it’s upon our patriots and parents to guide the children on what type of knowledge they should acquire,” said Seku.  

She also decried the deforestation in various parts of the country, especially in Zombo district where there is mass destruction of trees for charcoal. She encouraged the learners to plant edible trees which later can be used to provide fruits and also protect the environment.

Mbarara City North deputy resident city commissioner Jacqueline Kakunda encouraged the students to become teachers and also join the police force and army. The government has since revealed that effective this year, all S6 leavers will undergo compulsory patriotism training for at least three months, according to the proposal that was initiated by the National Patriotism Secretariat. 

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