Busoga Diocese urges Museveni to tackle corruption, sanitation in new term

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Busoga Anglican Diocese has congratulated President Yoweri Museveni on swearing-in for a seventh five-year term in office with a call to tackle hygiene and sanitation across urban areas.

According to the Rev. Can. Mathias Katiko, the vicar general of Christ’s Cathedral Bugembe, the main seat of the diocese in Bugembe, Jinja city northern division, during his new term, which commences today, Museveni’s next government should focus on promoting cleanness in all towns which were littered with garbage, diapers and flying polythene papers.

The clergy says Ugandans needed to borrow a leaf from cleaner countries such that they shift from cleaning central business areas alone when other parts of their towns were dirty.

He made the call during prayers as the diocese marked Mother’s Day at Christ’s Cathedral Bugembe on May 10. Katiko said poor sanitation was partly frustrating the tourism sector.

“Uganda is a tourist destination, but what kind of picture do our visitors go with in terms of hygiene. As we congratulate President Museveni, we ask him to tackle hygiene and sanitation,” he said.

“We should not look at the poor hygiene as normal when tourists are going with a different picture." 

Fight corruption

He also urged the new government to fight corruption and ensure that taxpayers’ money caters for pressing needs such as quality health care and infrastructure in terms of constructing schools, hospitals including roads to curb accidents.

“People pay taxes, and they should in turn get social services instead of diverting funds for personal gains as it has been,” he noted.

Regarding Mother’s Day, Katiko called for stability in families as this was key in nurturing disciplined children.

The family 

Held under the theme, "ideal families, roles and responsibilities" he said families comprise a father, mother and children with different roles.

Despite the current equality, the cleric would remind mothers of the Biblical requirement for them to be submissive to their husbands as they are to the Lord, regardless of their financial status.

“Many empowered women think it is so hard to submit to their husbands, the Bible is very clear, fathers are the heads of families, but they should also be seen providing and fending for their families, rather than what we are evidencing,” he said.

Katiko would then turn to the husbands on the command to love their wives sacrificially, modeling the unconditional, sacrificial love of Christ for the church.

He explained that if parents were each playing their roles, with no cases of drunkenness, there wouldn’t be cases of broken marriages.

Katiko said parents needed to be role models to have ideal families instead of giving them much freedom to watch television and social media uncontrollably, hence exposing them to unwanted content.

He challenged children who were not taking care of their parents, yet they were able to raise them.

“Parents have been able to raise 7 children and many more, but in most families, these children are not able to take care of their only two parents. This is very saddening,” he noted.

Naome Nakisige, a 70-year-old mother of five, said it was only one child who was always taking care of her, yet all of them were well-positioned.

“I feel bothered when all the responsibility of taking care of me is left to one child, yet all of my children are not badly off; there must be a gap, we need to step up in parenting,” Nakisige said.