Archbishop of Canterbury visits refugee camps in Uganda

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby speaks to students of Itula Secondary School in Moyo District. Some of the students at the school are South Sudan refugees. PHOTO BY SCOVIN IETA

KAMPALA- The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who is currently visiting two refugee camps in West Nile, is scheduled to meet President Museveni later on Wednesday before returning to the United Kingdom.  

His brief trip to Uganda is an extension of an official visit to Sudan where he declared the 39th province of the worldwide Anglican Communion, six years after the predominantly Christian south gained independence from the north.

South Sudan has been ravaged by conflict. The war has displaced millions of internally displaced people and Uganda is hosting nearly a million of South Sudan nationals since 2013.

Rev Canon Amos Magezi, the provincial secretary of Church of Uganda, says the Archbishop of Canterbury is in the country because “majority of the South Sudanese refugees are in Uganda and he came to make a courtesy call on them”.

“Some people think he is here to officially visit the Church; that is not true,” Rev Canon Magezi said. “He is here to see the refugees; we [Church of Uganda]have to host him.”

Justin Welby is currently in Moyo and visiting Palorinya Camp, which is home to 174,000 South Sudanese refugees.

He will later travel to Mirei Settlement Camp  in the neighbouring Adjumani District, where over 6,000 refugees are hosted.