Mbabazi Calls for Urgent Inter-Generational Leadership Shift as Key to Africa’s Future
KAMPALA – Former Prime Minister John Patrick Amama Mbabazi has issued a compelling challenge to Uganda and Africa’s leadership, urging an immediate and deliberate transfer of knowledge and power to the younger generation. He framed this shift as the critical “missing link” for the continent’s transformation.
Mbabazi delivered his message yesterday at Makerere University during the annual Tumusiime Mutebile memorial lecture, held in honour of the late Bank of Uganda Governor. Serving as Chairman of the Tumusiime Mutebile Foundation, he argued that the event’s theme, ‘Shaping Africa’s future: the imperative and power of inter-generational leadership,’ was far more than academic.
“This subject lies at the heart of Africa’s development challenges,” Mbabazi stated, emphasising that the continent’s youthful demographics present a pivotal moment in history.
Citing projections that by 2050 one in every four people globally will be African, the former Prime Minister warned that this demographic wave stands at a critical crossroads. It could, he said, become a dynamic “turning point” for unprecedented growth or be tragically recorded as a “missed opportunity.”
“What determines the outcome,” Mbabazi asserted, “is the commitment of today’s leaders to intentionally cultivate the leaders of tomorrow.”
He called for the creation of systems that actively prepare young people for leadership, rather than leaving them to wait passively for their turn. “We must create opportunities for young Africans to lead. We must build systems where young leaders do not merely wait their turn; they are prepared, guided and trusted to lead early [and with] responsibility,” he told the audience.
Outlining the path forward, Mbabazi placed paramount importance on the “intentional transfer of knowledge and values” as the first imperative. He upheld the late Governor Mutebile as an exemplary model of this practice.
“[Mutebile] did not just lead; he taught, mentored, challenged and corrected and inspired,” Mbabazi said, highlighting the late governor’s legacy of nurturing talent.
Mbabazi insisted that such a conscious and continuous transfer of expertise must become the standard practice across the continent. “This… must become the norm; not an expedition,” he concluded, urging current establishments to institutionalize mentorship and succession planning to harness Africa’s youth potential.
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