By Dr. James Nsaba Buturo

THE day was Sunday June 20, 2010. It will always be remembered as the turning point in the fortunes of Uganda which Churchill, in 1896 and in a prophetic truth called ‘The Pearl of Africa’.

On that day, Ugandans had responded to a call by the President (read the King in the biblical parlance) of Uganda to Ugandans to gather at Kololo Independence ground in order to pray and repent the sins of the nation against God.

When the President’s call was first made, it reverberated across Uganda with incredulity, shock, skepticism and spontaneous excitement. Such a call was as unprecedented as it was significant.

I was struck by the high degree of unanimity among those who attended and believed that it was unique as well as significant in so far as consolidation of God’s blessings for Uganda is concerned.

Ugandans who take seriously the teachings of God and are conversant with the travails of this nation, especially its record on the moral scale and attendant serious consequences for their nation, should rebellion against God continue unabated, were hilarious to the core.

Apparently many had been praying for years for this day little knowing that God would answer them in the affirmative.
Mind you, it was not the first time that Ugandans had gathered to pray. Two years earlier, the President had called for National Prayers to thank God for the discovery of oil. So what was different this time?

By calling for national prayers and repentance, the President showed humility, bravery and wisdom per excellence.

His call was an honest admission that there were things that were going wrong in our nation about which we needed to collectively, as well as individually, ask for God’s hand of mercy and healing.

Up until then, it was unheard of anywhere in the world and in modern times that a President of a nation could call his people to pray and repent.

Repentance is contrition for what we are in our fundamental beings, that we are wrong in our deepest roots because our interior government is by self and not by God. Contrition is a gift of the blessed, brave and the humble.
Unfortunately, in the President’s act, some Ugandans saw a mirage of politicking.

They argued that what Uganda really needs is not God or prayers but a Government that acts decisively against evils such as corruption which are threatening Uganda’s integrity, cohesion, security, stability as well as prosperity.

In a crucial way, they were wrong! Uganda needs citizens who work diligently, yes. She also needs a government which fights without mercy the corrupt, yes. But equally crucial, is her need for God who makes all this possible!

Following the President’s call, thousands of Christians, Moslems and other faiths turned up. They did so because they understood well the spiritual significance of his call.

They know well enough that our nation needs God’s healing Hand since some of the issues which are facing Uganda are complex and beyond our human resolution abilities.

On that day, therefore, they humbled themselves, prayed, sought God and vowed to turn from their evil ways. The President did not disappoint. He, too, prayed and repented on behalf of the nation.

Some officials also prayed and repented on behalf of, among others, the executive, judiciary, legislature, media, Uganda People’s Defense Forces, Uganda Police as well as Uganda Revenue Authority.

These actions derived their force from God’s promise in 2 Chronicles, chapter 7, verse 14 where He says that if people who are called by His Name humble themselves, pray, seek Him and turn from their evil ways (read the sins outlined above), then He would heal their nations (read Uganda).

The call to God by the President has its parallel in the Bible. King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles, chapter 20) was at one time faced with a formidable invasion by his more powerful enemies. He knew they would crush his forces.

Faced with that reality, he resolved to enquire of the Lord and called his nation to pray, fast and seek help from God.

Trust God. He responded and instead, the King crushed his enemies with little effort! The Bible is replete with other examples of rulers who turned to God when their nations were facing difficult circumstances. On each of these occasions, they were victorious.
Our President was absolutely right to call the nation to prayer and repentance.

He was right to seek help from the Most High. The nation may not be faced with external physical invasion but some of the circumstances which it is facing have severe consequences.

Wanton stealing of public resources, bribery, illicit enrichment, poor time management, witchcraft, human sacrificing, prostitution, adultery, idolatry, pornography, homosexuality plus a coterie of other vices have conspired together and invaded Uganda in a mighty way.

More worrying for Uganda though, is that some of us who are leaders are responsible for encouraging these vices whose main import is to defile Uganda.

In the wake of the national prayer and repentance, there is now hope among Ugandans that Uganda has reconnected with God both in the spirit and the physical. There are attendant benefits.

This is why harbingers of an impending doomsday scenario, war, violent elections and unbridled corruption will be forced to eat their words.

I must add though, that this will be possible only when all the servants of God continue to perform their watchman role over Uganda and when Ugandans as a whole keep in fellowship with our God.