The Senior Presidential Advisor (SPA) in charge of Poverty Alleviation in Busoga Sub-Region, Hon. Mrs. Florence Mutyabule, has wished total success to all candidates sitting national examinations this year across the country.
Hon. Mutyabule, who is a seasoned educationist, administrator and politician, says the country is now raising a new, enlightened and revolutionary generation that will transform leadership and permanently heal Busoga from the chronic curse of divisionism, factionalism, formation of cliques and endless bickering that has kept the sub-region poor.
In a philosophical, motherly and statesmanlike message, Hon. Mutyabule first took time to laud religious leaders in Busoga for their spiritual role in this examination season, saying without spiritual grounding, academic preparation is incomplete.
She thanked the Busoga Diocesan Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Prof. Dr. Grace Lubaale and his fellow clergy, as well as the Busoga Regional Kadhi Dr Sheikh Hussein Mohammed Bowa and his team, for the dedication services and prayers held in various schools across Busoga to spiritually strengthen and encourage candidates ahead of their final papers.
Hon. Mutyabule said praying for and dedicating candidates to God is not just a religious ritual or formality but a very important foundation for success in examinations and in life.
She explained that at this time candidates face high anxiety, fear, pressure from parents, sleepless nights and uncertainty about the future. Prayers give them inner peace, calm their hearts, reduce panic, sharpen memory and concentration, and remind them that true wisdom ultimately comes from God.
She said dedication to God builds moral confidence, instills discipline, keeps children away from temptation of examination malpractice, and invokes divine favour, protection and guidance that no amount of reading alone can provide.
A child who has been prayed for and dedicated, she noted, walks into an examination room with courage, humility, hope and a settled mind, knowing that God who enabled them to start Primary One and to reach this level will see them through to completion. That is why, she said, the services conducted by Bishop Lubaale and the Regional Kadhi Dr Bowa are so critical.
“You have given our children courage, hope and spiritual armour to face this season with confidence and peace of mind,” she said. Hon. Mutyabule drew from the Bible to implore parents to always speak blessings upon their children, unlike some who speak negative words that become everlasting curses in the lives of children.
She gave the example of Job in the Book of Job, Chapter 1:5, who always rose early in the morning to sanctify and bless his children, offering burnt offerings for each of them, saying perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Job did this regularly and consistently. He understood that a parent’s blessing is a spiritual covering and that words spoken over a child carry power.
In the same way, Hon. Mutyabule said, Isaac blessed Jacob and Jacob in Genesis 49 gathered his twelve sons and blessed each one with a specific prophetic blessing that shaped their destiny.
Drawing from these examples, Hon. Mutyabule implored parents in Busoga to emulate Job. She said some parents, out of anger, frustration or drunkenness, speak destructive words like “you will never amount to anything,” “you are useless,” “you are a failure like your father.” She warned that such words do not disappear; they sink into a child’s heart, kill self-esteem, and become an everlasting curse that follows the child into adulthood, marriage and leadership.
Instead, she challenged parents to daily declare positive blessings: “You will succeed, you are wise, you are disciplined, God will make you great, you will lift our family from poverty.” She said a parent’s tongue holds the power of life and death, and Busoga’s future depends on children who were blessed, not cursed, at home.
Moving from gratitude to guidance, Hon. Mutyabule then reflected on what examinations truly mean for a child and for a nation. As a seasoned educationist who has spent decades in classrooms, in school administration and in political leadership, she said she understands examinations beyond the ordinary classroom definition that many attach to them.
An examination, she explained, is not meant to intimidate or brand a child as a failure or to create enmity among learners. It is a mirror. It reflects how much a learner has absorbed over the years, how disciplined they have been, how well they have managed time, and how ready they are for greater responsibility.
Candidates sit not to prove they are better than others, but to prove they are ready for the next chapter of life and service to their families and to the nation.This understanding naturally leads to a bigger picture about the learners themselves and why they matter to Busoga.
Building on that, she said the current generation of learners is unique, special and revolutionary in every sense of the word.
With the emergence of technology, enlightenment, skilling initiatives and improved access to information, their level of exposure and knowledge is far higher than ever before. A child in Primary Seven today accesses information that university students did not have twenty years ago, and a Senior Four student today can innovate and create solutions using a smartphone.
Through smartphones, internet, Presidential Skilling Hubs, television and interaction with the global village, they have become more informed, confident, curious and solution-oriented.
This exposure, she noted, makes it easy for this generation to reach out to each other and iron out differences through dialogue, consultation and research, not through quarrels and insults.
And it is at this point that Hon. Mutyabule made her most candid and historical observation, connecting education to leadership and to poverty alleviation.
Unlike in the past where leadership in Busoga and elsewhere has been riddled with bickering, divisionism, formation of cliques, endless quarreling on social media platforms, blackmail, character assassination and pulling each other down for selfish political gain, today is different.
The candidates and all children currently in schools are part of a new generation that will soon take up leadership positions in Busoga and Uganda. And they are expected to perform far better than the current generation, because they have witnessed the painful consequences of factionalism with their own eyes in their own villages.
“These children seated in examination rooms for PLE, UCE and UACE are not just candidates,” she emphasized. “Look at them closely. You are looking at tomorrow’s Members of Parliament, Ministers, Resident District Commissioners, Chief Administrative Officers, District Chairpersons, City Mayors, Bishops, Kadhis, doctors, engineers, teachers, innovators, commercial farmers and Presidents.”
“Our children have grown up watching how bickering retards development and how disunity scares away opportunities, investors and government programs. They have seen how factionalism keeps Busoga poor while other regions move forward and attract factories and investments.
They have watched leaders waste precious time fighting on radio stations, on Facebook, on WhatsApp and on X, instead of uniting to fight poverty, to lobby for factories, to improve schools and health centers, to support farmers and to create jobs for the youth.
They have seen how cliques destroy institutions, how hatred divides families, and how character assassination kills morale and teamwork. Having witnessed that pain in their own homes, villages and schools, they will not repeat it when their time to lead comes. They will choose unity over cliques, dialogue over bickering, and development over insults.”
That, she said, is why this generation is revolutionary and why Busoga should place its hope and trust in it. This seamless transition from the problem of yesterday to the promise of tomorrow is the heart of her message and the bridge to the future of Busoga.
This new generation does not have time for endless fights and petty politics that add no value to the ordinary person in the village. It uses technology to learn, to innovate, to create jobs, to market produce and to connect with the world.
And that is the generation that will deliver Busoga from poverty to prosperity in line with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s vision of socio-economic transformation, Parish Development Model and wealth creation.
From that broad national vision, Hon. Mutyabule then brought the message back to the individual child in the examination room, weaving in timeless wisdom to calm anxiety and build confidence.
She reminded candidates that examinations test memory, but life tests courage, resilience and character.
Quoting celebrated American educationist and philosopher John Dewey, who is regarded as the father of progressive education, she said education is not preparation for life, education is life itself. This means what children do every day in class, at home and in society is already part of their examination of life, and the values they learn now will shape their tomorrow.
She also borrowed from English playwright William Shakespeare, who in his famous political play Julius Caesar has Cassius trying to convince his friend Brutus to take action against Caesar.
In Act One, Scene Two, Cassius tells Brutus, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” At that time, Romans believed that stars determined fate, but Cassius argued that Romans should not blame fate, stars or luck for being oppressed, but take responsibility for their own lives.
Shakespeare meant that people should not blame destiny or background for their condition, but rise up with courage and character.
Hon. Mutyabule used this powerful context to tell candidates that in the same way, their success will not be determined by their village, their parents’ poverty, their stars or their background, but by their own discipline, faith, hard work and determination. They hold their own future in their hands.
She further invoked celebrated Irish playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw, who observed that progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. Hon. Mutyabule used this to challenge candidates to change their mindset, to believe that they can pass, to believe that Busoga can change, and to believe that poverty can be defeated.
Linking philosophy to reality, she said no single results slip can determine a child’s entire future. Many Ugandans who did not come out with their expected results went ahead to succeed because they refused to give up and discovered other talents. They turned setbacks into stepping stones and failures into lessons. That is the spirit she wants to see in Busoga.
A First Grade is good, but character, creativity and determination are better. What matters after results is discipline, fear of God, hard work, resilience and the willingness to keep learning and innovating.
Hon. Mutyabule then issued a firm caution against examination malpractice, which she described as the first seed of corrupt leadership and the beginning of a failed society.
A child who cheats in Primary Seven, she warned, will cheat in business, will cheat in leadership, will cheat in marriage and will cheat the nation tomorrow. Malpractice must be rejected completely.
She challenged candidates to approach papers with honesty, calmness, confidence and prayer, to show Busoga that they are indeed different and ready to lead with integrity when their time comes.
“Show us that you are different. Pass with integrity. That is the kind of leadership Busoga needs tomorrow,” she challenged.
She noted that the NRM Government under H.E Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has done its part through Universal Primary Education, Universal Secondary Education, seed secondary schools in every sub-county, Presidential Skilling Hubs and Industrial Hubs for youth, and ICT initiatives to connect schools.
Government has brought education nearer to the people and brought skills to the youth so that no child is left behind because of distance or poverty.
Now, she said, it is the turn of learners to do their part by passing and using that knowledge to create wealth and jobs for themselves and for others, thereby fighting poverty practically.
To achieve that, however, children need collective support beyond the classroom and beyond Government.
Hon. Mutyabule therefore called upon parents, teachers, school administrators and religious leaders to continue supporting candidates until the last paper is done, saying this is not a time to relax but to intensify support.
She asked for spiritual, moral, material and psychological support throughout this critical season.
She stressed that education remains the only permanent inheritance a parent can give to a child to permanently uproot a family from poverty, ignorance and dependency.
She particularly asked parents to avoid putting too much pressure on children during this period, which often causes panic, fear and even health breakdowns.
Instead, she urged them to encourage, to pray with them, to give them peace at home, to provide early meals, paraffin or solar light for night revision, and a safe, quiet environment for reading.
To teachers, she said thank you for the sacrifice of early mornings and late evenings, for completing syllabuses despite challenges, for counselling learners, and for acting as second parents to thousands of children.
To candidates, she left a final motherly blessing that crowns the entire message and gives hope.
She prayed for good health, sharp memory, divine favour, calmness and outstanding success for all PLE, UCE and UACE candidates across the country.
Finally, she offered special prayers and blessings for thousands of candidates from the 11 districts of Busoga Sub-Region, saying they carry on their young shoulders the hope of a united, enlightened, peaceful and prosperous Busoga.
These children, she concluded, carry the hope of a Busoga that will be free from divisionism, free from cliques, free from endless social media fights, and fully focused on development, unity and poverty alleviation.
