Anti-God secularists want to dictate national agenda
Jun 01, 2009
UGANDA has two contrasts. One contrast is of a nation whose nationals are working hard to ensure that their nation enter ranks of modern states. On this, Ugandans are likely to succeed since the country has resources that are the envy of many nations.
By Dr James Nsaba Buturo
UGANDA has two contrasts. One contrast is of a nation whose nationals are working hard to ensure that their nation enter ranks of modern states. On this, Ugandans are likely to succeed since the country has resources that are the envy of many nations.
The other contrast is of a nation whose citizens are sighing under the full weight of conflicting internal and external forces, some of which are negative and constraining Uganda’s pace of development. Will Uganda succeed to become a modern state with democratic and developmental credentials? What will it take for her to secure a firm place among the club of civilised, stable and prosperous nations?
A war is raging unnoticed by many Ugandans. This war is for the soul of Uganda and the battles being fought are fierce. Yet for many Ugandans, it is business as usual. So then, is it a case of this writer being a warmonger or there are readers who can avow to the existence of this raging war?
Battles are being fought in the theatres of the media, schools, churches and in the minds of Ugandans. Forces of secularism and extreme liberalism are pitted against those which are advocating for a morally upright and spiritually-inclined Uganda. There are many Ugandans who believe that in this war, secular forces are having an edge over their opponents.
Both camps are using the media to try and shape Uganda their way. Needless to say, the secular camp appears more effective at using the media. This is so for three main regrettable reasons.
The first one is that many of the media owners are entrepreneurs who are simply in the business to make money by any means possible. They care little about having a Uganda that has integrity. The second reason is the dearth of journalists who are revolutionaries and intellectuals and are adept at using the power of the pen and the microphone to fight for a nation that has integrity.
The third reason is that the Church in Uganda is failing to provide effective spiritual leadership bestowed by God. To many of us, this could spell disaster for the nation of Uganda. Why? Secularists assert that in our society, God does not matter. This is why they are waging an intensive and extensive campaign, whose aim is to deconstruct Ugandans’ reverence for God. They are doing this even when they know that God is the author of values that make nations prosperous, stable and free.
Secularists have reasoned, therefore, that if they can succeed in weaning Ugandans of God, they will have succeeded in exposing and rendering them vulnerable to dangerous, abnormal, illegal and unnatural practices such as homosexuality.
A nation that ignores the haemorrhaging of its moral alacrity courts disaster of gargantuan proportions. Moral degeneration breeds national decline, vulnerability to negative forces and eventual collapse. How does a nation, which finds itself caught up in the imbroglio of moral degeneration, come out of such a state?
As a first step, such a nation must have leaders whose heart is after God. It is God who gives them the ability to become banners of hope for their nations. For God’s sake, it is not witchcraft that will save Uganda. In fact, witchcraft will, in addition to curses, weaken the nation further.
A resurgent nation must have God at the core of its resurgence. It follows that for a nation to rise and shine, it must have leaders who strive to put into practise, both at a personal and societal level, God’s values such as justice, humility, honesty, care and integrity. To this end, therefore, as leaders, we must ensure that our nation has national values as the bedrock of its developmental paradigm. After all, it is values that ultimately dictate policy and priority.
We who are leaders must not sacrifice opportunities and potential of the future to fulfill necessities of the present. Instead, we should harness Uganda’s resources in order to create opportunities and harness potential for the future.
President Museveni recently did this when it was announced that Iran had agreed to fund the entire chain of Uganda’s oil production and that both Uganda and Iran would jointly fund construction of an oil refinery in Uganda. When this construction is completed, it will be, by far, one of the greatest things to have happened to Uganda. When we refine our oil, Uganda will be set on a transformation path.
I must add though that our success in this regard will depend on our ability to prevent thieves from accessing the oil revenue for their personal gain. Ugandans will have to make a choice. When citizens are seriously engrossed in unGodly practices such as witchcraft, homosexuality, stealing of public resources, marital infidelity and human sacrifice, our nation is doomed.
At that point, there is no amount of artistic or even wizardly engineering of policies and programmes that would revamp our nation from doldrums of underdevelopment.
Our preferred choice must be to ensure that Uganda is rejuvenated and transformed and that our leaders put God first in their national duties.
Ugandans must be wary of anti-God secularists and extreme liberalists who seek to dictate the national agenda. The objective of all citizens of goodwill must be to decapitate Uganda of the tag of moral degeneration.
The writer is the Minister of Ethics and Integrity
UGANDA has two contrasts. One contrast is of a nation whose nationals are working hard to ensure that their nation enter ranks of modern states. On this, Ugandans are likely to succeed since the country has resources that are the envy of many nations.
The other contrast is of a nation whose citizens are sighing under the full weight of conflicting internal and external forces, some of which are negative and constraining Uganda’s pace of development. Will Uganda succeed to become a modern state with democratic and developmental credentials? What will it take for her to secure a firm place among the club of civilised, stable and prosperous nations?
A war is raging unnoticed by many Ugandans. This war is for the soul of Uganda and the battles being fought are fierce. Yet for many Ugandans, it is business as usual. So then, is it a case of this writer being a warmonger or there are readers who can avow to the existence of this raging war?
Battles are being fought in the theatres of the media, schools, churches and in the minds of Ugandans. Forces of secularism and extreme liberalism are pitted against those which are advocating for a morally upright and spiritually-inclined Uganda. There are many Ugandans who believe that in this war, secular forces are having an edge over their opponents.
Both camps are using the media to try and shape Uganda their way. Needless to say, the secular camp appears more effective at using the media. This is so for three main regrettable reasons.
The first one is that many of the media owners are entrepreneurs who are simply in the business to make money by any means possible. They care little about having a Uganda that has integrity. The second reason is the dearth of journalists who are revolutionaries and intellectuals and are adept at using the power of the pen and the microphone to fight for a nation that has integrity.
The third reason is that the Church in Uganda is failing to provide effective spiritual leadership bestowed by God. To many of us, this could spell disaster for the nation of Uganda. Why? Secularists assert that in our society, God does not matter. This is why they are waging an intensive and extensive campaign, whose aim is to deconstruct Ugandans’ reverence for God. They are doing this even when they know that God is the author of values that make nations prosperous, stable and free.
Secularists have reasoned, therefore, that if they can succeed in weaning Ugandans of God, they will have succeeded in exposing and rendering them vulnerable to dangerous, abnormal, illegal and unnatural practices such as homosexuality.
A nation that ignores the haemorrhaging of its moral alacrity courts disaster of gargantuan proportions. Moral degeneration breeds national decline, vulnerability to negative forces and eventual collapse. How does a nation, which finds itself caught up in the imbroglio of moral degeneration, come out of such a state?
As a first step, such a nation must have leaders whose heart is after God. It is God who gives them the ability to become banners of hope for their nations. For God’s sake, it is not witchcraft that will save Uganda. In fact, witchcraft will, in addition to curses, weaken the nation further.
A resurgent nation must have God at the core of its resurgence. It follows that for a nation to rise and shine, it must have leaders who strive to put into practise, both at a personal and societal level, God’s values such as justice, humility, honesty, care and integrity. To this end, therefore, as leaders, we must ensure that our nation has national values as the bedrock of its developmental paradigm. After all, it is values that ultimately dictate policy and priority.
We who are leaders must not sacrifice opportunities and potential of the future to fulfill necessities of the present. Instead, we should harness Uganda’s resources in order to create opportunities and harness potential for the future.
President Museveni recently did this when it was announced that Iran had agreed to fund the entire chain of Uganda’s oil production and that both Uganda and Iran would jointly fund construction of an oil refinery in Uganda. When this construction is completed, it will be, by far, one of the greatest things to have happened to Uganda. When we refine our oil, Uganda will be set on a transformation path.
I must add though that our success in this regard will depend on our ability to prevent thieves from accessing the oil revenue for their personal gain. Ugandans will have to make a choice. When citizens are seriously engrossed in unGodly practices such as witchcraft, homosexuality, stealing of public resources, marital infidelity and human sacrifice, our nation is doomed.
At that point, there is no amount of artistic or even wizardly engineering of policies and programmes that would revamp our nation from doldrums of underdevelopment.
Our preferred choice must be to ensure that Uganda is rejuvenated and transformed and that our leaders put God first in their national duties.
Ugandans must be wary of anti-God secularists and extreme liberalists who seek to dictate the national agenda. The objective of all citizens of goodwill must be to decapitate Uganda of the tag of moral degeneration.
The writer is the Minister of Ethics and Integrity