Matembe attacks Kadaga over shrine visit

Although American writer and Noble laureate said that the past is not dead and that it is not even past, to some Ugandans, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga's recent visit to the shrine was not only a mockery of God but gesture of a demon-possessed leader.

"Demons have taken over Kadaga and are now in Parliament. It was wrong for her to visit the Shrine in her capacity as Speaker," said Miria Matembe, the former minister of ethics and integrity.

 "If our leaders, even with education, still believe in the dead, what sort of laws are they passing?" Matembe wondered while on a local TV station on Wednesday morning.

Quoting the Bible, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Matembe called for a wave of repentance in the country.

"Given her decision to go to the shrine, what if Hon Kadaga was asked to sacrifice someone to get authority, would she? Our motto has a god with a capital G. It says 'For God and My Country' not 'For gods and My Country'. How can our leaders raise the Bible and the next minute, they run to the shrines? Mockery. God is angry," she said.

However, in various interviews, Kadaga has defended her visit to a shrine on Nhendha Hill in Iganga district.

The Speaker said that she was visiting her ancestors on one hand and also promoting tourism on the other.

Yet for Matembe, there should be no excuse for Kadaga's actions.

"Kadaga is a parishioner at All Saints Cathedral. Visiting a shrine is a total mockery of our faith. I was shocked given Speaker Kadaga's decision to visit a shrine and worship the dead despite her education level," she said.