Bishop Nelson Onono-Onweng leads senior citizens from Kampala to a luncheon at St. Phillip Cathedral Gulu.
“I want you to open your bible and read the book of Prophet Hosea; chapter four and begin to read from verses one to three. This text describes the situation in Uganda today. Ugandans have ignored God, many leaders are liars, and many are immoral and corrupt”
“Uganda is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. They worship idols yet our motto is ‘For God and My Country’ and our anthem says ‘May God upholds you’. We are murderers who kill with impunity. Look at the way we killed former Assistant Inspector General of Police, the late Andrew Felix Kaweesi. How can a man have sex with one’s own daughter, pigs and fellow men?They see in terms of your [ethnic group] but not your personality”
GULU-UGANDA: God has a quarrel with Ugandans because the people “live un-godly life, have lost faith in God, have no love; have abandoned God, the people break promises, they lie, murder, steal and commit adultery” without any remorse.
These were the stinging words from a Ugandan bishop who offered his explanation for the many woes that bedevil this East African country.
“I want you to open your bible and read the book of Prophet Hosea; chapter four and begin to read from verse one to three. This text describes the situation in Uganda today. Ugandans have ignored God, many leaders are liars, and many are immoral and corrupt,” says retired Anglican Bishop Edward Muhima of North Kigezi Dioces.
Muhima spoke last Sunday, July 9 2017, at St. Phillip’s Cathedral in Gulu during a service to commission members of the “Senior Citizens’ Fellowship” of the Diocese of Northern Uganda. Bishop Muhima was part of 40-strong members of the senior citizens’ fellowship from All Saints’ Cathedral, Kampala, who were on a visit to the resource-rich but neglected northern part of the country to initiate a similar fellowship for senior citizens in Gulu.
“Uganda is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. They worship idols yet our motto is ‘For God and My Country’ and our anthem says ‘May God uphold thee’. We are murderers who kill with impunity. Look at the way we killed former Assistant Inspector General of Police, the late Andrew Felix Kaweesi. How can a man have sex with one’s own daughter, pigs and fellow men? They see in terms of your [ethnic group] but not your personality”, says the bishop.
He was referring to the Mafia-style assassination of the top police official by motorcycle riding gunmen.
Uganda scored 25 points out of 100 on the 2016 Corruption Perception Index as reported by Transparency International watchdog.
The bishop also blasted the current leaders of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) for running-down the city which in 1967-68 was voted as the cleanest city in East Africa by “Flamingo” magazine.
He said “people from across the region would flock here to buy goods. Today, Kampala city is one of the dirtiest city in the world. Why? This is because people have turned away from God.”
The bishop appealed to Ugandans to “wake up from sleep” and return to God so that He heals the nation.
Senior Citizens’ Fellowship brings together retired elders who are sixty years old and above to share the Word of God, chat, pray and to assist and counsel one another in case one has a problem.
The chairman All Saints’ Cathedral senior citizens’ fellowship, Mr. Charles Atwooki-Kagenda says their fellowship started 10 years ago with just 117 members and has since expanded to 600 members.
They have fellowship every Thursday and prophets Simeon and Anna are their patron saints, whose day is celebrated in January-February. The fellowship has already established a Savings & Credit Co-operative Organization (SACCO) and they intend to open up a health center.
“Seniors in the church are not useless people. They are important. The entire church should recognize them. If you don’t pay attention to the seniors, you lose track of the future. We have since learnt that the church is headless without senior citizens”, says Atwooki-Kagenda.
The bishop of the Diocese of Northern Uganda, Bishop Johnson Gakumba, says he decided to invite this group of senior citizens to Gulu so that they senior citizens could be inspired to start a similar group in the northern part of Uganda.
“Those who are retired who live lonely lives in northern Uganda and suffer from neglect by their youthful children. Many die in misery. Even if they are sick, they hardly get visitors or medical help. I thought we should start this fellowship to cheer them up”, says bishop Gakumba.
According to reports, Uganda has the lowest percentage of citizens who are 60 years old and above in the region, standing at 3.7% of the total population compared to Japan which stands at 32.3%.
In 2012, Uganda instituted “Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment” (SAGE) of the elderly where the elders are given grants of 25,000 shillings, about 7 dollars per month. Uganda is yet to roll it over to cover the entire country.
