UCC Debate Series empowers Ugandan youth on digital safety
The Uganda Communications Commission’s acting executive director, Julian Mweheire, reaffirmed the commission’s dedication to enabling youth to participate safely and effectively in the digital realm.
Mweheire highlighted the commitment at the UCC Debate Series Grand Finale, a five-day event held Dec. 2-6, 2025, at Greenhill Academy in Kibuli.
The UCC Debate Series serves as a national platform, engaging 17,800 students from 71 schools this year in discussions centered on digital safety, responsible online conduct and the future of communication technologies.
Mweheire underscored that as Uganda experiences rapid digital transformation, young people, who are the country’s most active digital users, face increasing online risks. The debate series was specifically developed to furnish students with essential research skills, critical thinking and ethical digital citizenship. This strategic focus ensures that youth transition from being passive consumers of technology to informed contributors to Uganda’s digital policy and governance framework.
The grand finale convened 245 top-performing students from 50 schools. These participants excelled in four regional qualification competitions conducted in July across Fort Portal, Lira, Jinja and Kampala.
Mweheire expressed gratitude to Green Hill Academy, Debate Institute Africa and all participating schools for fostering the next generation of thinkers, noting that the intellectual outputs from the event would directly contribute to national policy discourse on critical issues such as online child protection, data privacy, digital inclusion and ICT sector governance.
“It has become the equalizer,” Mweheire stated, emphasizing the program’s impact. “In this hall, students from various regions have stood toe-to-toe and won on the strength of research, logic and delivery.”
The competition, which utilizes the World Schools debate format, is the concluding phase of an inter-tertiary debate program organized by the UCC in collaboration with Debate Afrika. Final discussions concentrated on child online protection, cyberbullying, responsible digital use and data protection.
The event closed with an awards ceremony recognizing outstanding performance in research, presentation and teamwork.