Kampala — Uganda is not lagging because its young people lack ability or drive, but because those in power too often view new ideas with suspicion rather than seeking practical ways to make them work, businessman and advocate Nyanzi Martin Luther aka Sir Martin Biz has argued.
In a detailed opinion piece, Nyanzi said the country’s progress is held back by a default focus on what could go wrong, rather than how risks can be managed while still enabling opportunity.
“Uganda is not behind because its children are incapable or because its young entrepreneurs are lazy,” he wrote. “We are behind because too often, those who make the rules look at a new idea with suspicion before asking how it can be made to work.”
Phones in schools debate exposes deeper problem of suspicion over smart regulation
He pointed to the ongoing debate over phones in schools as a clear example. While acknowledging genuine concerns about distraction, exposure to pornography, gambling and cyberbullying, Nyanzi said identifying problems should start a policy discussion, not end it.
Practical alternatives exist, he noted, including secure lockers or designated storage during lessons, filtered school networks, limited access times, teacher-guided digital use, and education on responsible technology.
“Why should the answer to every digital problem be to take the device away?” he asked. “We cannot tell students that technology is the future while treating the technology they already have as an enemy.”
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Nyanzi cited France’s digital regulator, Arcom, which requires pornography websites accessible in France to have effective age-verification systems to prevent under-18s from accessing adult content. Uganda does not need to copy the system exactly, he said, but should apply the principle: regulate specific harms such as access to adult content, gambling or cyberbullying rather than banning the devices themselves.
Only 20% of secondary schools ICT-ready as young entrepreneurs face unfair standards
He also highlighted deeper infrastructure challenges. A 2025–2026 assessment covering more than 3,200 secondary schools found that only about 20 percent were considered ICT-ready, while roughly 39 percent remained completely unplugged, lacking reliable electricity, internet or devices.
The assessment, From Unplugged to ICT-Ready: A Digital Readiness Assessment of Secondary Schools in Uganda, examined the country’s preparedness for digital learning and highlighted significant gaps in infrastructure and connectivity.
Parliament has also previously raised concerns about ICT infrastructure, connectivity and computer laboratories in schools.
“Perhaps the national debate should not only be about whether a student should carry a phone,” Nyanzi wrote. “Perhaps we should be asking a bigger question: What kind of education system are we preparing for the economy our children will enter?”
The same negative attitude, he argued, affects young entrepreneurs.
New businesses are frequently judged against companies that have operated for decades, an unfair standard that discourages risk-taking.
“A company that is six months old cannot reasonably be expected to have the institutional strength of one that has been around for thirty years,” he said. “Yet our public conversation sometimes treats the difference as evidence that young people are incapable.”
Nyanzi stressed that young businesses must still obey the law, serve customers and employees responsibly, and meet professional standards. The distinction, he said, lies in recognizing the difference between failure and being at the beginning.
He called on Parliament and leaders to shift from asking only “What could go wrong?” to also asking “How can we make this work safely?” That approach, he argued, separates restriction from intelligent regulation and fear from leadership.
“Good policy does not pretend that risks do not exist. It identifies the risks, measures them and builds systems to manage them,” Nyanzi wrote. “Anyone can point at a phone and say it is dangerous. Leadership begins with the harder question: How do we make it work?”
Uganda’s future, he concluded, will not be secured by ignoring modern technology or by allowing everything without rules. The path forward requires responsible freedom, intelligent regulation and confidence in young people.
“Uganda’s lag is not destiny,” he said. “But if negativity continues to be our default response to innovation, we will keep creating the very backwardness we complain about. We can choose differently.”
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