Students have been cautioned against being used by politicians as ladders to climb to public offices.
The warning was delivered by Jinja Deputy Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Eric Sakwa who observed that in previous years, students have been used as tools by some politicians to disseminate propaganda and advancing their selfish political interests with dangerous outcomes for the supporting students.
Sakwa was presiding over as the Guest of Gonour at the launch of Basamaba Students Association at Makerere University Business School, Jinja campus last Sunday.
“These politicians can choose to turn enlightened people like you students into hooligans because of one or two thousand shillings but value your level of integrity and shun their trails,” Sakwa said.
He added: “Remember you constitute the majority but you only stop at being exploited by some people who even lack the required minimum qualifications, therefore if you mean to go into politics that contest actively other than being demeaned to morale boosters because of simple hand-outs.”
Sakwa urged students to drop the belief that ‘they are leaders of tomorrow and rather prove that they are the leaders of today and tomorrow,”
Sakwa, a former member of the opposition Uganda People’s Congress also told students to love and promote their culture as a symbol of originality.
“A society without culture is a no society and I greatly impressed by fellow Bamasaba here for this association, use it even after campus to promote the cultural norms and values of Bamasaba” he said.
Emmy Barasa, the MUBS campus registrar encouraged all other tribes that want to form such cultural associations to do so because they help to mobilize people of similar origins.
