<\/p>\n
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has sent a powerful wake-up call to African youth, urging them to step up and take control of the continent\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the 2025 Guild Leaders\u2019 Summit hosted at Uganda\u2019s prestigious Makerere University, Kenyatta delivered an impassioned address calling on young people to embrace their pivotal role in shaping a new Africa free from corruption, division, and dependency.<\/p>\n
In a speech that resonated strongly with Generation Z and the rising student leadership across East Africa, Kenyatta described the current moment as Africa\u2019s \u201csecond independence struggle.”<\/p>\n
With over 65% of the continent\u2019s population under the age of 25, he stressed that this demographic advantage presents an unmatched opportunity to drive transformational change.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have the numbers, you have the time, and you have the energy to influence and implement the change you want to see,\u201d Kenyatta told an audience of student leaders, academics, and policymakers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is your moment. History was once written by the powerful \u2014 but the future will be shaped by the principled.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kenyatta, who has adopted a more activist stance since leaving office in 2022, urged the youth to reject short-term political games and focus instead on building a culture of integrity, merit, and self-reliance.<\/p>\n
He framed the call to action as a matter of urgency, asserting that as the world grows more inward-looking, Africa can no longer afford to wait for external rescue.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one is coming to save us,\u201d he warned. \u201cAs the world turns inward, the places to seek refuge are rapidly disappearing. The burden of building a better Africa now lies with us \u2014 with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drawing attention to Africa\u2019s persistent economic hurdles, Kenyatta pointed out the underperformance of intra-African trade, which currently accounts for less than 2.5% of global trade.<\/p>\n
He called for the removal of bureaucratic and political barriers that hinder trade and the free movement of people across borders. To unlock Africa\u2019s full potential, he encouraged the youth to harness innovation, unity, and pan-African ideals.<\/p>\n
Universities, Kenyatta said, must serve as more than academic institutions \u2014 they should be \u201cincubators of change.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stressed that student leaders in these institutions must act as guardians of Africa\u2019s future by promoting transparency, accountability, and bold new ideas.<\/p>\n
Uganda\u2019s Vice President Jessica Alupo, who also addressed the summit, echoed Kenyatta\u2019s sentiments. She highlighted the need for a renewed sense of unity and commitment among Africa\u2019s young leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you Guild Leaders gather here, you must embrace unity. You must embrace the spirit of pan-Africanism. You must embrace the spirit of hard work,\u201d she declared.<\/p>\n
While acknowledging the many challenges young people face \u2014 from high unemployment to systemic exclusion \u2014 Alupo urged them to move beyond speeches and embrace practical, collective action.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very easy to say what I\u2019m saying, but more often than not, it is a bit difficult to make implementation on a collective level,\u201d she admitted, urging student leaders to convert their vision into tangible results.<\/p>\n
The summit, hosted by the Makerere Guild Presidents Leadership Academy, marked a turning point for East Africa\u2019s student leaders and youth advocates.<\/p>\n
With the continent at a critical crossroads, the message from Kampala was clear: the future of Africa belongs to its youth \u2014 and it\u2019s time to rise, lead, and build a self-sufficient, united Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has sent a powerful wake-up call to African youth, urging them to step up and take control of the continent\u2019s future. Speaking at the 2025 Guild Leaders\u2019 Summit hosted at Uganda\u2019s prestigious Makerere University, Kenyatta delivered an impassioned address calling on young people to embrace their pivotal role in shaping […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/stateupdate.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Screenshot_20250425_132316_Chrome.jpg?fit=1080%2C540&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc68Dd-fc","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateupdate.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateupdate.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateupdate.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateupdate.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateupdate.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=942"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateupdate.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":948,"href":"https:\/\/stateupdate.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942\/revisions\/948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateupdate.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateupdate.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateupdate.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateupdate.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}