Janet holds peace prayers for north
Oct 06, 2002
A PEACE prayer led by First Lady Janet Museveni at Kaunda Grounds in Gulu town yesterday ended in disappointment after none of the bishops from the war-torn northern districts attended
A PEACE prayer led by First Lady Janet Museveni at Kaunda Grounds in Gulu town yesterday ended in disappointment after none of the bishops from the war-torn northern districts attended, reports Ben Mugisha.
The occasion, organised by local religious and political leaders, was to pray for an end to Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army war in the north.
At a highly guarded Kaunda Grounds, Janet wondered why the religious leaders failed to show up, and yet they should be at the forefront of the peace initiative. No Catholic nor Protestant bishop attended.
But Gulu Archbishop John Baptist Odama, who is chairman of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative, yesterday denied deliberately shunning the prayers. “We never attended not because we boycotted, but because all of us were in Kampala on similar missions to end the war,†Odama said.
In her sermon, Mrs. Museveni asked, “Why do human beings created by God in His image be butchered by fellow human beings?â€
She appealed to the rebels to have mercy on the innocent people and stop the atrocities. She said Kony and his men should accept the peace offer by the Government.
Gulu LC5 chairman Walter Ochora and state ministers Betty Akech (education), Oryem Okello (sports), Christine Aporu (disaster preparedness) and Agard Didi (Northern Uganda) attended the prayers.
The occasion, organised by local religious and political leaders, was to pray for an end to Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army war in the north.
At a highly guarded Kaunda Grounds, Janet wondered why the religious leaders failed to show up, and yet they should be at the forefront of the peace initiative. No Catholic nor Protestant bishop attended.
But Gulu Archbishop John Baptist Odama, who is chairman of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative, yesterday denied deliberately shunning the prayers. “We never attended not because we boycotted, but because all of us were in Kampala on similar missions to end the war,†Odama said.
In her sermon, Mrs. Museveni asked, “Why do human beings created by God in His image be butchered by fellow human beings?â€
She appealed to the rebels to have mercy on the innocent people and stop the atrocities. She said Kony and his men should accept the peace offer by the Government.
Gulu LC5 chairman Walter Ochora and state ministers Betty Akech (education), Oryem Okello (sports), Christine Aporu (disaster preparedness) and Agard Didi (Northern Uganda) attended the prayers.