Repent, Pr. Serwadda tells leaders in New Year message

By Joyce Namutebi                                      

Renowned Kampala Pastor, Dr. Joseph Serwadda has urged religious, political and other leaders to repent over the “shocking levels of corruption and immorality, unbelievable natural disasters, and other ills Ugandans have witnessed".

Delivering his New Year message Serwadda, who is the Presiding Apostle of the Born Again Faith in Uganda, noted that Uganda is a sinning nation and needs a rebirth.

“For the last two years, Uganda has been moving from one crisis to another. But the situation has been worse and in this ending year, Ugandans have witnessed amazing happenings,” he said.

Besides shocking levels of corruption, he cited problems including strange epidemics such as Ebola and Marburg, strife in all the major political parties, shocking levels of immorality and pornography televised on national TV, and also poor service delivery.           

He made pointed references to the recent “shameful” experiences in the country such as donor cuts, revenue deficit, mysterious murders, ritual sacrifices and domestic violence.

“All these are signs that Uganda is bleeding internally. All the above undesirable incidents are certainly the consequences of our unrelenting sinful practices,” Serwadda, who is also senior pastor at Victory Christian Centre in Ndeeba said.      

“This ugly situation is clear evidence that we the leaders have failed in our divine mandate of leading the citizens in the ways and principles of God. Whether you are talking about spiritual leaders, political leaders or the leaders of state institutions, every one of us has fallen short of God’s glory and expectations.”

He warned that because of this, the citizens may soon lose trust in religious leaders. But he added that genuine repentance is the way to a fresh beginning for Uganda and “must begin from the Houses of God”.

“The Christmas season and its festivities is supposed to bring new hope and good news to a hopeless world, but it does not make sense to God for us to celebrate Christmas amidst graft, rebellion and wickedness.”        

Concerned by increased carnage on roads, the pastor appealed to the Police department to reinstate the motor vehicle inspection unit to check every vehicle for roadworthiness at least once a year.

He said the Born-again wonder why government is registering their churches as NGOs and not treating other faiths in the same way.       

On malaria, which is the biggest killer disease in Uganda, he appealed to the ministry of health to declare usage of DDT lawful and to stop the misleading male circumcision campaign.

He reiterated the Church’s earlier request of releasing prisoners in this year of jubilee in order to attract God’s blessings.             

At the end of his message, Serwadda invited Ugandans to attend the Passover festival at Mandela national stadium at the end of this year.