For two weeks, more than 30 students from Kenya and Uganda moved across the East African countries to liberate youths from the shackles of poverty.
Tagged East African liberty road caravan, the event was devoted to promote entrepreneurship, civil liberties and free market across universities in the sub-continent.
Organised by the African Liberty Students Organisation in Uganda Martyrs University, supported by the AfricanLiberty.org and powered by Atlas Network and Students For Liberty, the move was aimed at telling youngsters how they could use their talents to achieve prosperity and liberate Africa from poverty.
The East African Liberty Bus Caravan, which moved from Uganda to Kenya, was a project of African Liberty Students’ Organisation (ALSO) chapter in the Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi. The students moved in a carnival-like road campaign to change the thinking of the youth through the use of various approaches, including seminars, one-on-one discussion and games to promote libertarian ideas.
It was taken to students of selected institutions, while materials such as books and compact discs were freely distributed to people on the streets as the caravan moved from one city to another.
ALSO is the students’ arm of AfricanLiberty.org, a network of youths and professionals whose mission is to promote student-driven platform to promote the principles of economic liberty. The organisation also empowers students to become leaders and agents of change in their communities, particularly on campuses.
The universities visited included Uganda Martyrs University, Uganda Christian University, Makarere University Business School, Kyambogo University and St. Lawrence University. Others are Maseno University, Marist International University and South Eastern University in Kitui, Kenya.
The volunteers began the outreach in Mbarara University, Uganda, with a football match between Liberty Boys of Kenya and Liberty Girls of Uganda. The comic match, who had not referee, was used to demonstrate the peace and exchange of love without government intervention. The game ended in 2-1 against the Liberty Boys.
The students left the football field and engaged in one-on-one discussion on entrepreneurship with youths around the university.
The ALSO team, in a nine-hour journey, left for Uganda Christian University in Mukono, where they met over 2,000 students for discussion on economic freedom. After the lecture, some motivated students showed interest to be part of the ALSO network.
At the Kyambogo University, one-on-one conversation was held with students, who were visited in their hostels. Afterwards, a seminar was held in the department of Business Administration on ways to make societies free of poverty.
To round off the tour, Kyambogo University and Makarere University hosted the ALSO team in an induction ceremony to welcome new members. The programme was attended by presidents of all Uganda universities in the caravan programme. The inducted members took the oath with copies of abridged version of Road to Serfdom, a book detailing how a nation can achieve economic prosperity.
In his address, Adedayo Thomas, Director of Outreach, Africanliberty.org, said the Caravan of Liberty programme was the start of good things to happen in Africa, urging students to stand for freedom and challenge the status quo, which he said gave rise to injustice, tyranny, oppression, and economic backwardness in Africa.
In a chat with CAMPUSLIFE, Salwa Kavuka, a student of the University of Nairobi School of Law, who was part of the programme, said he had opportunity to share her passion on how to liberate Africa from economic quagmire. She said: “Many of us have the idea on how to solve Africa’s socio-economic problem, but we did not have platform to express such view. This Caravan of Liberty programme afforded us the platform to air our views and tell our leaders the truth about our socio-economic wellbeing.”
Report courtesy The Nation Newspaper, Nigeria
[photo: Oluwafemi Ogunjobi]
