According to a statement sent to newsrooms, Museveni pledged Ksh10 million towards the construction of the William Ruto Leadership Institute at Makerere University.
“This institute would go a long way in Africans deepening their knowledge base and furthering research that would transform Africa,” stated Museveni.
He disclosed that time had come for Africa to tell its own story in its own way for its own future.
The deputy president, who arrived in Kampala on Friday evening, later laid the foundation stone for the institute, which seeks to develop innovative approaches to teaching and learning about Africa.
Present were Uganda ministers Kahinda Otafiire (EAC) and Frank Tumwebaze (Gender) and Makerere University Vice-Chancellor Prof Barnabas Nawangwe.
Others were Governor Jackson Mandago (Uasin-Gishu), MPs Kimani Ichungwa (Kikuyu), Mwatib Mwashetani (Lunga Lunga) and Charles Njagagua (Mbeere North).
According to Makerere University, the William Ruto Leadership Institute would also forge partnerships with similar institutions around the world to deepen the understanding of Africa and contribute to the discussion, analysis and resolution of developmental challenges facing the continent through research.
In his appreciation speech, the DP noted that the institution was the culmination of a pilgrimage to a shrine of patriotic and enlightened Pan-African awakening.
“One key paradox of our time is the persistence of dysfunction in some parts of the world amidst the tremendous progress made elsewhere,” he highlighted.
The deputy president observed that Africa appeared to be increasingly isolated as the focal antithesis of the broad global trend, with the majority of the world’s poor residing in the continent.
“Our challenges have a lot to do with our institutions and the way they (dis)connect with the rest of the world,” he argued.
The DP turned 53 years on the same day that he also celebrated the 29th anniversary of his marriage to Rachel Ruto.
