Opondo defends bishops' cars

Feb 19, 2015

The group of religious leaders who attacked their colleagues for accepting gifts from the President is misled, Government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo has said.

By Francis Kagolo                                          

The group of religious leaders who attacked their colleagues for accepting gifts from the President is misled, Government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo has said.



Speaking to New Vision, Opondo said President Museveni’s gifts including cars to bishops and other clerics are intentioned to ease their work and not compromise them.



 He also said the donations are most times requested for by the religious leaders themselves.



“There are written requests for the President to help the church. When they give you a vehicle it’s up to you to keep quiet about the injustices in the society or not,” Opondo said on phone.



“We have never recorded a single case of a religious leader returning a donation to the church.”



He was reacting to a group of religious leaders led by Fr. Gaetano Batanyenda who lashed out at their colleagues who have benefited from the President’s generosity.



Batanyenda, the chairperson of the inter-religious council for Kigezi sub-region, was with retired Kampala assistant Bishop Zac Niringiye and Sheikh Mumed Katuramu.



President Yoweri Museveni always donates vehicles to newly appointed bishops and top Muslim leaders to ease their pastoral work.



Last month he donated vehicles to 36 religious and traditional leaders during a function held at State House Entebbe.



On Wednesday, Fr. Batanyenda’s group told the media that the cars had compromised the clerics’ stand against corruption and violation of human rights in the country.



They asked the beneficiaries to emulate Janan Luwum, who opposed injustice and violence against Ugandans until he was martyred by then president Idi Amin.



Luwum is a former archbishop of the Church of Uganda who was murdered by former president Idi Amin in 1977 after he opposed the regime's tyranny and mass killings.



Since then, Luwum has been regarded as a martyr for the Christian faith globally.



 Opondo asked why Fr. Batanyenda was not compromised when the President nominated him as a member of the Constituency Assembly.



He also cited Bishop Macleord Baker Ochola II Bishop Dr. Charles Bernard Obaikol (both retired) as other religious leaders that have continued pointing out government weaknesses.



Opondo said mutual relationship between the church and the state is not unique to Uganda.



“In the UK, you cannot be archbishop unless the House of Commons and the House of Lords have accepted you,” he explained.



Archbishops of Canterbury have been members of the House of Lords by virtue of their office since parliament first began many centuries ago.


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