A total of 90 guild leaders from various universities have been equipped by Makerere University's Julius Nyerere Leadership Centre with better leadership skills.

The leadership centre which is a presidential initiative with support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) aims at empowering the guild leaders with better leadership skills.

According to the centre’s executive director, Dr Nansozi Muwanga, the trainees have had classes on leadership ethics, financial literacy, mental health, integrity and wellbeing.

Some of the guild leaders posing with one of their facilitators. (Photo by Agnes Nantambi)

She said they have received several facilitators who have talked about different subjects of interest and also boosted networking.

According to Dr Muwanga, they are training them to be selfless leaders.

“We emphasised selfless leadership. One shouldn’t think about self but about the people they are serving,” she said during the closure of the last cohort of guild leaders on Friday in Kampala.

Dr Herbert Rwakiseta Herbert, the mind educationist and conscious leadership facilitator at the centre, said empowering the guild leaders with information is helping them perform to the best of their abilities.

Some of the guild leaders posing with one of their facilitators. (Photo by Agnes Nantambi)

“Julius Nyerere; many of us know him as a Pan-Africanists who wanted to see a united Africa and how best to utilise the resources one has to lead others. Looking at his journey, Julius Nyerere lived a modest kind of life, with a very small house compared to other leaders," he said.

He added that they were building character because it’s the foundation to be able to stand up for what you believe in regardless of anything. 

Some of the guild leaders in a training session. (Photo by Agnes Nantambi)

“Nyerere believed that Africa can come together, but many people fought him, but he did not deter. He kept on fighting until the end. We believe that if a leader sees a problem in a community, he fights until that problem is solved, and those are some of the skills we are trying to instil in our leaders,” he explained.

The financial educationist at the centre, Gloria Jombwe, blamed poor leadership on selfishness among leaders.

Participants posing for a picture with their facilitators after the training at Protea Hotel. (Photo by Agnes Nantambi)

“People have looked at leadership from a financial perspective which has not moulded them into servant leaders. We believe that empowering the leaders while still at the university will transform them into servant leaders whose focus is not money but to serve others irrespective of the available resources,” she said.