“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs only to the people who prepare for it today.” — Malcolm X, Founding Rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, 28 June 1964
Malcolm X told a young, majority audience in 1964 that freedom without preparation would be empty.
They had to build skills, schools, and institutions now, so the next generation would own its future.
Sixty-two years later, the Busoga Kingdom is making the same bet. With a youth-majority population and a digital gap to close, it has signed a 5-year pact with UCC to prepare 4 million people today for the jobs, markets and tools of tomorrow.
The Busoga Kingdom has signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding with the Uganda Communications Commission, UCC, to accelerate digital education and technological advancement across a region of more than 4 million people, according to Uganda Bureau of Statistics 2024 Census data.
The agreement was signed Friday 3rd July,2026 at UCC House, Bugolobi in Kampala. The UCC Executive Director Nyombi Thembo signed for the Commission, while Second Deputy Prime Minister Owek. Hajji Noor Ahmed Osman signed for the Busoga Kingdom.
Owek. Osman also serves as Head of Corporate Partnerships for the Kingdom. He is a business magnate with dozens of enterprises, including Express Fitness Centre/Club along Lubas Road in Jinja, on the site of the former Muna Club Bar and Restaurant.
He was accompanied by Counsel Alex Luganda, the kingdom’s minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs/Attorney General, and Owek. Ivan Kirya, the Finance Minister.
In his message after the signing, Owek. Osman echoed the preparation theme.
“The Basoga should embrace this partnership for the farmers, business enterprises, schools and others to adopt the emerging dynamics of technology which is the modern global catchphrase,” he said.
Why Busoga now, and why the MoU Matters.
Busoga is a young region. More than half of Ugandans are children 17 and under, with youth aged 18-30 at 22.7%, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics Census 2024. That demographic is the reason the MoU is timed now.
Those youth are already online, mainly by phone. 91.6% of Ugandans used a mobile phone to access services online compared to 8.4% on a computer, according to Uganda Bureau of Statistics data. But access is uneven, data available indicate that only 10% of the rural population owns or uses a computer, and just 27% of Ugandans are regular internet users, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics — a figure also cited when MTN Uganda partnered with the Kingdom.
Nationally, internet penetration stood at 22.0% at the end of 2025, while mobile connections reached 79.1% of the population, according to DataReportal’s Digital 2025: Uganda report.
In schools, the gap is clear. More than a third have no internet. Only about 12% have campus-wide access. The average secondary school has one device for every 63 students, according to UNICEF’s assessment of Uganda’s digital education gap. UNICEF found roughly a quarter of schools are “ICT-ready”, another group has some elements, and the largest group remains “largely unplugged”. In Busoga specifically, research found digital literacy training had a “very positive” impact on teachers’ skills and knowledge, but teachers still called for infrastructure, connectivity, and ICT tools like smartphones, laptops and projectors.
To close that gap, UCC will support ICT labs, teacher training, and student digital literacy in Busoga schools. It will also link youth to innovation bootcamps, coding, e-learning and safe internet use, and explore broadband access and community digital hubs to improve coverage and affordability.
“This MoU is about making Busoga a digitally enabled region. It gives our schools, youth, and communities direct access to the Commission’s programs, infrastructure, and expertise,” Owek. Osman said.
Track Record: MTN. Uganda Partnership.
Officials said the UCC deal builds on prior work to expand digital tools in underserved areas.
MTN Uganda previously donated 10 internet-connected computers, vocational tools and water tanks to the Inebantu Alice Mulooki Memorial Library and ICT Centre in Bugembe Town Council, Jinja City, under its “21 Days of Y’ello Care” campaign.
What UCC Does.
The Uganda Communications Commission is Uganda’s regulator and promoter of the communications sector under the Uganda Communications Act, according to UCC.
UCC licenses and regulates telecommunications, broadcasting, postal, courier, and online data communications services. Beyond regulation, it is mandated to expand national coverage, ensure competitively priced and quality services, allocate radio spectrum, set standards, and safeguard consumers.
In recent years it has also run direct inclusion programs including ICT labs in schools, teacher training, and youth innovation hubs.
“Cultural institutions bring trust and grassroots access. Working with Busoga Kingdom helps us take digital education and technology closer to the people who need it most,” said UCC Executive Director Nyombi Thembo.
A Digital Divide, But a Youth Dividend.
Globally, 71% of youth aged 15-24 use the internet compared to 57% of other age groups, with the gap wider in developing countries. In Uganda, mobile penetration is high, but regular internet use remains low at 27%, and rural computer use is at 10%, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics.
Busoga also faces social challenges that intersect with digital access. The region has one of Uganda’s highest teenage pregnancy rates, exceeding 30%, according to government data cited during the MTN partnership. Partners are targeting digital skills alongside those challenges.
A joint UCC-Busoga workplan is expected next. It will name pilot schools and youth hubs, set targets for teacher training, devices and connectivity, and outline how smartphones will be used for learning and enterprise.
Linking the quote: When Malcolm X said in 1964 that tomorrow belongs to those who prepare today, he was speaking to a young population he wanted to equip with education and self-reliance now.
Busoga Kingdom’s MoU applies that same logic: with most of its 4 million people still young, the Kingdom is investing in digital skills and infrastructure today, so its farmers, students and enterprises are ready for a digital economy tomorrow, not left catching up after it arrives.
