MASAKA – President Yoweri Museveni has ordered Uganda’s young workers to station themselves at the frontline of the war against economic sabotage, declaring that institutional corruption is actively eating away at the country’s development.
The President’s directive was delivered by Masaka Resident City Commissioner (RCC), Hajj Ahmed Washaki, to over a hundred young labor delegates gathered at Mariaflo Hotel in Masaka for a high-intensity, four-day youth leadership summit organized by the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ Union (ATGWU).
Alongside the anti-corruption mandate, the President affirmed that the state will aggressively sustain its heavy infrastructural rollouts explicitly to engineer a highly optimized, enabling ecosystem for the domestic workforce.
The Masaka convention targeted a total overhaul of traditional labor tactics, focusing heavily on modern workplace vulnerabilities, digital transformation, and cross-border regional solidarity.
“Young workers must wake up and become ambassadors in the fight against corruption,” President Museveni’s brief stated. “Corruption is eating the country and workers must be at the frontline to fight it.”
Addressing the delegates, ATGWU Acting General Secretary Ms. Jane Atto issued a stark warning against worker fragmentation. “The future is for the organized,” Atto declared. “If young workers are not organized in unions, they will be exploited. Solidarity is our strength.”
ATGWU National Chairman Denis Oloro noted that the camp’s core purpose was to weaponize young workers with comprehensive knowledge of their rights under the Employment Act alongside cutting-edge digital organizing capabilities.
With shifts in automation, green energy, and corporate practices, labor leaders from key economic drivers—including transport, aviation, hospitality, and the informal sector—stressed the immediate need for skill evolution.
“The world of work is changing. You must be ready. Invest in sustainable skills that respond directly to emerging economies and environmental realities.” Denis Oloro, National Chairman, ATGWU
Representing the aviation sector, Erasmus Muhairwe, Chief Shop Steward for the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA), challenged the youth to aggressively drive structural inclusivity during corporate tech adoptions.
“The future belongs to workers who are willing to learn, adapt, and innovate,” Muhairwe stated. “You should ensure that the transition to new technologies and sustainable economies is just and inclusive, leaving no worker behind. The future of the labor union will depend entirely on the quality of leadership and governance we build today.”
In an aggressive push to build a unified labor bloc across East Africa, the summit also hosted youth delegations from Kenya. The cross-border alliance focused on mastering legal protections under national labor frameworks, combating regional exploitation, and training members to return to their respective corporations as active, high-volume recruitment ambassadors for the union.
