Cabinet has enemies of the Church — Kaziimba

MAYUGE - Church of Uganda (COU) Archbishop Dr Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu says Cabinet of the Government of Uganda has enemies of the Church.

The bishop says some members of the Cabinet are blocking the gazetting of Bishop Hannington Day as a national public holiday.

The prelate has, therefore, urged President Yoweri Museveni to give attention to their long-standing request as COU of gazetting Bishop James Hannington Day a national public holiday.

Kaziimba regrets how COU's request to declare this day a holiday is being frustrated by some Cabinet members whom he claims are envious of the Church.

“I am unhappy with this, I'm extremely disappointed that up to now, ever since our appeal was made to officially declare this day a public holiday in remembrance of the first bishop in Uganda to be killed because of the gospel, this has not come to pass,” he says.

He adds that CoU had been advocating for the Hannington public holiday, but some Cabinet members are deliberately frustrating the request.

The prelate made the remarks during the commemoration of Bishop Hannington Day at Kyando, Bukatuube sub-county in Mayuge district on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, under the theme: A Call to be a Faithful Witness in Christ.

Anglicans gather every October 29 to mark this day while remembering Hannington who was martyred under the directives of Kabaka Mwanga in 1885.

The push for gazetting this public day began way back in 2019 and it turned into a song at every commemoration.

The promise

During the 2022 commemoration at which Museveni was the chief guest, he promised to present a motion before Cabinet to approve the day Hannington was murdered.

Museveni said the issue had earlier been brought up before Cabinet some years back but surprisingly, a resolution was not taken.

He assured believers that he would find out in one of their weekly Cabinet meetings why the matter was not resolved.

“I want to know during our weekly Cabinet on Monday why the issue was not resolved to turn this say into a public holiday,” Museveni said during the 2022 celebrations at Kyando.

Some of the followers, who turned up at the commemoration of the Bishop Hannington Day in Mayuge district on Tuesday. (Credit: Jackie Nambogga)

Enemies of the Church

However, Kaziimba told the congregation that each time this issue was presented in Cabinet, there were opposers whom he referred to as enemies of the Church of Uganda.

“Let me openly speak this, some Cabinet members are fighting the COU not to gazette this day for Hannington, they are very determined and against recognising the first man who was killed because of the gospel yet he was a bishop, they are still fighting us,” he announced.

As the ninth Archbishop, Kaziimba said he was 'totally disappointed' and as CoU and the Basoga were not happy and called upon the President to give attention to their long-awaited appeal.

The Prelate who spoke in a mixture of Lusoga and Luganda languages, repeated the statement and asked the congregation not to take his message lightly.

Unhappy with the delay

He asked in fluent Lusoga if they were happy with the delay by the Government to pronounce Bishop Hannington day a public holiday: "Abasoga muli basanufu olwa kinno, ghaliyo abali mu kabineti abakuba COU akalippo".

Those present overwhelmingly chorused: Mbbe (no).

“I want you to go with this message that the Archbishop is very much concerned with cabinet members fighting us by not wanting this day to be gazatted. I am not joking while talking about this issue and I am not happy at all,” he said.

Unfortunately, this time around, no politician turned up for the event save the Busoga kingdom minister for tourism Hellen Namutamba including the royal chiefs, Prince Bukumunhe Nkwighe and Luba Mukajjanga of Bunole-Bunhanumba and Bunhya, respectively.

Seeds of faith

Whereas this year’s event was organised by the Central Busoga Diocese, it was East Busoga Diocese bishop Paul Hannington Suubi who was the main preacher.

In his homily, Suubi described Hannington as the mastered seed of Christian faith as he loved Christ than himself by not pleading to his persecutors saying his life remains inspirational to many to endure their own races.

Much as he was unknown to many, he said the martyr represents the life transformed by God and his death sowed seeds of faith in generations to come.

He explained how he sacrificed his life for the gospel which was embodied in faith, commitment and love which grew into a testimony of the gospel being preached, embraced and expanded from Busoga and now worldwide.

As Christians, they needed to find encouragement to live lives of commitment, humility, dedication and love as he did.

Suubi said their huge turnout at the commemoration showed how Hannington lived and died with a big sense of purpose.

The Bishop regretted the high levels of unemployment, poverty, widespread income inequalities, permissiveness, moral degeneration, laziness and persecution in the country.

During the event, Kaziimba launched the fundraising drive for the construction of a shillings 100 million Vicarage for Kyando archdeaconry at which 34 million was raised.

Meanwhile, Namutamba conveyed a message from the First Deputy Prime Minister and minister for East African Affairs Rebecca Kadaga saying the Government had resolved to earmark shillings 100 million for every martyr in its annual budgetary allocation.

“This is a big relief since we have been having challenges in the promotion of our sites, maintenance and preparing such commemorations".