Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa, has called on the leadership of the Catholic Church in Uganda to join government in its effort to improve wealth creation at the household level.
Tayebwa said this was a sure way for the African church and society to preserve its values and defend itself from external pressures.
“We can no longer rely on foreign aid, if we do they will say start preaching homosexuality. They [donors] already cut off funding from the Uganda Joint Christian Council which was supporting HIV/AIDS programmes; they even withdrew the vehicles,” said Tayebwa, adding “The church must be self-reliant.”
Tayebwa was chief guest at the Memorial Lecture organised in honor of the Late Archbishop Joseph Kiwanuka, held at Hotel Africana on Thursday, 07 March 2024. The lecture was organized by Lubaga Cathedral Foundation, led by Kampala Archbishop, Paul Ssemwogerere.
“Now we have many forces against the church. Every year I attend a conference in Rome, you observe forces against the Christian values that you even fear to confront them, because they affect our economy,” he said.
He noted that whereas government commends the church for its significant contribution in providing education and healthcare, now is the time for it to embrace wealth creation.
“What you have in the pocket is important for personal liberation. As Cabinet we are focusing on wealth creation, we need you so much on the journey of wealth creation for our people,” Tayebwa said.
Kiwanuka was Archbishop at the birth of Christianity in Africa between 1899 and1940. He was the first black Papal representative from Africa, and the first black member of the African Missionary Society (the White Fathers), credited for having evangelised the most part of the African continent.
The Deputy Speaker, commended the initiative to remember historical leaders, saying it was an undisputable way of passing on knowledge to the young generation.
He pledged to support the church in obtaining land in Mawokota County, Mpigi district where the church plans to construct the Archbishop Kiwanuka center for promotion of spiritual and livelihood related projects.
According to church leaders and historians, this was the focus of Kiwanuka, who is also credited for having distinguished himself in enforcing education, while he served in Masaka Diocese.
“In his reign as the Archbishop for Masaka, 30 percent of Makerere University graduates were from Masaka. The former Chief Justice, Benedict Kiwanuka and the first Bank of Uganda Governor Joseph Mubiru were his first scholars,” said Hon. Fred Omach, the former Minister of State for Finance.
Omach hailed the late prelate for having literally forced every household in Masaka to rear cattle, cultivate coffee and bananas and for initiating cooperatives.
“He made sure that every family had a cow for milk production [and] you would sell it when it was old or sick. Households had coffee and banana plantations, such that Masaka was initially the main supplier of those products,” said Omach.
He noted that the prelate championed formation of local cooperatives such as the Mengo Leaders Cooperative and Bwavu Mpologoma Cooperative, as part of his campaign on self-reliance.
Archbishop Ssemwogerere commended the late Kiwanuka for upholding Christian values and his resolute spirit in speaking to those in power.
“One of his greatest achievements was his firm resolute in dispelling doubts among the missionary society, that Africans can lead their churches. He demonstrated the greatness of the young church to oversee the indigenous apostolate,” said Ssemwogerere.
