Afro-Arab youth council secretariat officials have confirmed receipt of 50 acres of prime land in Kawuku, Katabi sub-county of Wakiso district on Entebbe peninsula.
They say they will construct of a convention center worth 200 million dollars on the land.
The council boasts of subscribing members from different countries around Africa and the Middle East.
This was the fulfillment of the presidential pledge made to the council members during their second summit held in 2008, where over 5,000 youths from subscribing nations unanimously agreed to construct their international offices in Uganda.
Available records indicate that the then Libya’s president, Mwamar Gadhafi, had offered to fully fund the construction works, however, due to lack of land at the time, coupled with political instabilities, which later erupted in his country resulting into his eventual death, the proposed construction efforts stalled.
The convention center will comprise of a leadership school, sports facilities, a hotel, cultural museum and an office block.
Abbas Agaba, the council’s secretary general who addressed journalists on Monday ahead of their 18 years anniversary festivities to be held in Jinja city on 06th March 2022, says that receipt of land from government is a great achievement which will help them to own a permanent home.
Agaba stresses that they suffered a setback during the Arab spring, where some of their members were detached from actively participating in the council’s activities, but they have since regrouped and a fully furnished meeting point will boost their efforts of cohesion.
Agaba also reveals that, due to delays in acquiring land within Uganda, other countries had offered to host the council’s international headquarters, in order to speed up efforts of fulfilling their major objective of sharing cultural diversity amongst youth from different subscribing countries, however, with availability of already titled land, they have been cleared to commence construction works.
He adds that, a section of countries have already pledged to fund the construction of some units within the convention center, as part of their commitment towards supporting the council’s activities.
Meanwhile, Mary Mutesi, a council member, says that the Afro-Arab youth council has been paramount in grooming youthful leaders from subscribing countries and their vision is to foster a collective leadership training facility with world class amenities for raising ethical leaders.
