Youth account for more than 70% of Uganda’s population. Empowerment of this youthful population is at the forefront of the country’s agenda. Contemporary studies of empowerment in mainstream psychology focus on a Western and individualised conception of the self that is at odds with the African view of the self. African philosophy views the self as socially situated and developing in discourse with others that inhabit the same social-cultural and historical space. This worldview underpins the rationale for understanding the social-cultural situatedness of youth empowerment discourse as is argued in this paper. In an exploratory qualitative study, I elicited the views of 41 respondents from within three districts in Buganda region of Uganda concerning youth empowerment processes. I used in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. I transcribed the interviews verbatim and thematically analysed them. The results of this study revealed that problematic assumptions, attitudes, and practices which have worked against youth empowerment in Buganda are woven into language, daily discourse, and narratives but have been normalised and accepted. Such discourses need to be problematised again and targeted for change as vigorously as other barriers to youth empowerment, such as lack of education and employable skills. This calls for psychology scholars to interrogate empowerment discourse from jua kali, the “lay citizen” using theoretical frameworks that are able to appreciate, resonate with and critically assess the dynamics of the African experience.