Uganda Martyrs University – UMU hosted the two days’ 10th Inter University Human Rights debate at its beautiful main campus Nkozi. The theme of the debate was “Our Rights, Our Freedoms- Raising the Bar”. The debate was on (10th – 11th March 2017 and opened by the Chief Justice of the Uganda – Justice Bart Katurebe. Addressing about 600 students from 31 participating universities, He thanked the management of UMU for transforming what started as a small university into what it is now. He also spoke against corruption and the commercialization of our politics.

WLEDE is proud to have been participated in the event as observers of the students’ debate. As an Organisation that develops youth leaders using the human rights based approach, we were enthused to see the human rights knowledge the youth had. The debate was very interactive and issue based. This was a good opportunity for us to attend as we were able to understand more about the election challenges, LC voting its necessity to the people, land grabbing how citizens should learn to uphold their rights and be able to access justice.

Various universities participated including Gulu University, Makerere University, Uganda Christian University, Kampala International University, International University of East Africa and Ndejje University to mention but a few. Makerere University emerged the overall winners again with a total points of 85.4. The event’s closing ceremony was officiated by Ms Sophie Rucine, Manager Rights, Peace and Justice, Democratic Governance Facility.