By Mulengera Reporters
In a bold mix of pop culture, political strategy, and pan-African ambition, Uganda’s youth has set their sights on a game-changing project: a UGX 25 billion National Youth and Student Center to be constructed in Gulu, once a conflict-scarred region, now rising as the symbolic capital of post-war transformation.
The project is not a dream on paper. It’s already in motion.
Spearheaded by a vibrant coalition of youth leaders under the National Youth and Student Center, the movement is kicking off with a nationwide Peace Run, an international headliner concert featuring Afrobeats megastar Burna Boy, and a carefully orchestrated mobilization effort that links village-level grassroots with State House politics.
At a press briefing that felt more like a movement manifesto, Johnson Emmanuel Obbo, Secretary for Mobilization, made the stakes clear.
“We’re building a center like no other a full educational and innovation hub run by the youth, for the youth,” he declared. “This is our monument to peace, a place where ideas, businesses, and leaders are born.”
The center, to be located in Gulu, will include a primary and secondary school, youth-managed health facilities, indoor and outdoor sports complexes, and dedicated spaces for leadership and innovation.
It’s modeled on international student centers and faith-based youth hubs, but the Ugandan version promises to be larger, bolder, and deeply political.
And yes, it starts with running shoes. On September 21st, Uganda’s youth will take to the streets across the country for the “Run to the Center” Peace Run, marking the UN International Day of Peace. Proceeds from the UGX 10,000 kits will fund an architectural design competition for the center, open exclusively to Ugandan youth and begin laying the foundation for what Emmanuel called “the youth’s greatest legacy project.”
Joining him at the briefing, Rodney Adroni, Speaker of the 8th National Youth Parliament, brought the political message home.
“We know peace isn’t just luck. It’s policy. It’s leadership. And for 30 years, we’ve had that stability under President Museveni. Now it’s time to reward it by building something that outlives all of us,” he said.
Adroni wasn’t shy about the youth’s political leanings, either. “Let’s be clear we’re mobilizing in 71,000 villages and over 2,200 sub-counties to support President Museveni in 2026. Not for personal gain, but because peace is the one currency we all benefit from. With peace, we build. With peace, we marry. With peace, we live.”
If the Peace Run is the warm-up, the main stage comes in August 2026 when Burna Boy lands in Kampala for a mega fundraising concert at Namboole Stadium.
The event is expected to rake in over UGX 1 billion, with sponsors, fans, and the music-loving youth all pulling together for one cause: funding the future.
“We’re blending activism with culture,” said Abius Musiime, Secretary for Partnerships. “From Burna Boy to ballots, we’re showing that youth issues don’t live in isolation. They exist at the heart of the nation’s soul. Music, politics, development, they all move together.”
But this isn’t just noise and headlines.
The youth leaders have already engaged a local law firm in Gulu to handle land acquisition, navigating the region’s complex customary land tenure system.
And while the official funding target sits at UGX 25 billion, the team insists that money is not the problem political will, youth unity, and legal clearances are.
“This isn’t about waiting for donors. We’ve got support coming in from Europe, from the U.S., and from the grassroots here at home. The big challenge is getting clearance from the Ministry of Education to green-light construction,” said Emmanuel.
In a savvy twist, the movement is also offering incentives to schools and districts: the school that mobilizes the most runners wins a van; the district with the highest turnout gets an ambulance. Each secondary school is being asked to send 15 students. Each district? 15 representatives. From Karamoja to Kalangala, every region is being tapped into this national mission.
Even faith institutions are in the loop with Catholic, Anglican, Pentecostal, and Muslim communities all being invited to lend their moral authority to the campaign. As Obbo put it: “Peace is sacred. And so is this mission.”
Ultimately, the selection of Gulu isn’t just logistical, it’s symbolic. “Northern Uganda was once synonymous with war,” said Adroni. “Now, we’re turning it into the headquarters of peace, progress, and youth leadership.”
What began as a commemoration of peace is rapidly becoming a rallying cry for legacy. A call to action. A youth-led blueprint for the kind of Uganda they want to inherit and build, brick by brick.
As the countdown to the Peace Run begins and Burna Boy’s beats loom on the horizon, one thing is clear: this is no ordinary youth campaign. It’s a cultural and political movement aimed at etching youth power into the very architecture of the nation. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
