By Kyarisiima Israel

On May 8, 2025, the First Lady of Uganda, Hon. Janet Kataaha Museveni, delivered a timely and sobering reminder in response to a provocative Daily Monitor article titled “When a Revolution Eats Its Children.” Her words deserve serious attention especially from us in Gen Z: It takes much more to build than it takes to tear down.

As National Coordinator of Gen Z for Generation Seven, I see this truth not only in history but in our current responsibility to preserve and advance the legacy of the National Resistance Movement (NRM). Our generation must inherit not amnesia, but purpose.

At the recent Commanders’ Meeting and Defence Forces Council on May 7 and 8, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni called on young Ugandans to uphold the values of Uzalendo a patriotism rooted in duty and service beyond party lines. Yet while this message called for national cohesion, some voices particularly in the opposition worked to distort it.

Led by Mr. Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, this campaign seeks to divorce young Ugandans from their national memory. It is an attempt to replace responsibility with rhetoric, and context with chaos. That is not leadership; it is sabotage in the language of rebellion.

Let us be clear: the NRM’s legacy is not simply a political record, it is the foundation of our peace. While Eastern DRC is plagued by violence, and Sudan reels from repeated coups, Uganda remains stable and open. That is not coincidence, it is leadership. Stability is not spontaneous; it is built.

Look at our infrastructure. Uganda today has more kilometers of tarmacked roads than in all the years before 1986. Power lines, water systems, and rural connectivity are not headlines, they are the arteries of growth. These aren’t abstractions; they are the reason a farmer can reach a market or a child can access school.

And yes, education has been transformed from Universal Primary Education to vocational hubs that equip youth who don’t attend university. The tools are here. The question is whether we choose to build with them or waste time pointing fingers.

President Museveni was the Gen Z of his era. He chose resistance over resignation. His legacy isn’t a story of slogans, but of sacrifice. Today, our generation stands at a similar crossroads. Will we echo empty outrage or take responsibility for tomorrow?

The President’s push for economic empowerment through commercial agriculture, youth enterprises, and mindset change is not about charity. It’s about dignity. About shifting from dependence to productivity. And this shift begins in the mind.

Peace, too, has been a constant pillar. Whether through negotiations with the Lord’s Resistance Army or reintegrating former rebels, Museveni’s approach has prioritized reconciliation over revenge. In a region where vengeance often rules, that restraint is rare and remarkable.

International Lessons in Ruin and Reconstruction

Ukraine’s war-torn infrastructure tells the cost of destruction: over $524 billion needed for recovery, three times its GDP. Roads, housing, power grids, industries, all wiped out in months. In Libya, where war left institutions fractured, reconstruction remains stalled amid political instability.

These examples remind us that building takes vision, time, and peace. Destruction takes only noise and neglect.

When the First Lady says it takes more to build, she is right. We may not have fought in the Bush War, but we must fight for unity, independence, and generational memory. Because even a smartphone needs memory to function. A generation without history is just as dysfunctional and loud, yet empty.

Opposition politics should not mean opposition to truth. It should not glorify dismantling what others labored to construct. The propaganda flooding our feeds, often bankrolled by foreign donors, is not empowerment. It is manipulation. The West funds the drama, but we bear the damage.

So I challenge fellow Gen Zs: reject the seduction of destruction. Embrace the challenge of building communities, businesses, ideas, a nation. Let us be remembered not for breaking the foundation, but for taking it higher.

Because truly, it takes much more to build than it does to tear down. And we choose to build.

The writer is the National Coordinator of Gen Z for Generation Seven