Ugandans celebrate Mandela Day

Jul 22, 2019

South African High Commissioner, Prof. Solly Mollo Lekoa, said July 18, which is Mandela’s birthday, is an internationally celebrated day, with the idea that each individual has the power to transform the world.

MANDELA DAY 

 

Ugandans joined thousands of people to celebrate the Nelson Mandela day, even after he is gone, the legacy of the great South Africa icon still lives.

 

Born on July 18, 1918, Mandela was a nonviolence anti-apartheid activist, politician, and philanthropist who became South Africa's first black president from 1994 to 1999.

 

The celebrations held at Graca Machel skills center, Gayaza road, Kyebando on Friday, was organized in partnership with South African High Commission.

 

Artist, Roland Tibirusya, painted Mandela and Graca Machel portrait and proceeds from the paint will help the vulnerable girls at the center.

 

South African High Commissioner, Prof. Solly Mollo Lekoa, said July 18, which is Mandela's birthday, is an internationally celebrated day, with the idea that each individual has the power to transform the world.

 

 

 

"Nelson Mandela had many accolades. He was an iconic figure that triumphed over South Africa's apartheid regime. He was a human rights lawyer, a prisoner of conscience, and an international peacemaker. So you see why the United Nations General Assembly would want to celebrate his life," he said.

 

Mollo, urged people to be humane, especially to vulnerable people in the society, just as Mandela did for all his life.

 

"Mandela spent over 60 years working towards the liberation of South Africa. A couple of years ago, the United Nations(UN) dedicated July 18, also Mandela's birthday, and asked that each person dedicates at least some few minutes for human activities, to represent Mandela's birthday," he said.

 

The Graca Machel Skills development center director, Dr. Theopista Ntale said the center was opened years back, by Machel, focusing on vulnerable girls aged 16 to 35 years.

 

"The girls we receive are traumatized, alcoholics, and faced with early pregnancies challenges. Each day we receive 100 girls with different inhumane stories. Young girls usually engage in prostitution, peer pressure, family pressure are the prominent factors motivating girls to get engaged in risky practice, "she said.

 

Ntale, said the center is surrounded by slum community thus rendering service to the existing population of the vulnerable girls and young women.

 

Mandela, who died in 2013, remains a global icon for his long fight against white-minority rule and for his message of peace and reconciliation when he was released after 27 years in prison.