Buhweju RDC fired over church attack
BUHWEJU
The Buhweju Resident District Commissioner Moses Mwebesa was yesterday suspended following an incident at the weekend in which he led security officials to attack a catholic church prayer session.
Presidency minister Mr Frank Tumwebaze said Mr Mwebesa, had been removed to pave way for investigations, following the incident at St. Kizito, Bihanga catholic parish, in which Mr Mwebesa got involved in a scuffle with the parish priest Fr. Kenneth Beingana.
“We have removed the RDC of Buhweju to investigate the allegations. If he acted irregularly, he will be punished. But if he is being framed because of local politics on the ground, we shall also know,” Mr Tumwebaze told Daily Monitor.
The minister announced that Mr Emmy Katera, the current deputy RDC for Mbarara district had been appointed as acting RDC Buhweju.
Following the incident in the wee hours of Saturday, January 30 morning, Christians in Buhweju and Mbarara Archdiocese called on Mr Tumwebaze to reprimand the now controversial RDC, who had ordered the police to stop the routine overnight charismatic renewal prayers accusing the parish priest of holding the prayer session without informing the Inspector General of Police.
In three separate statements, the Archdiocese of Mbarara Development Association Chairman Dr Gaston Ampe, the Bihanga Parish Council Chairman Mr Ferdinand Kanyankore and Kitabi Seminary Old Boys Association Vice Chairman Mr Raymond Karamagi all condemned the actions of the RDC.
“Their actions amounted to defiling of the Mother Church, something that we cannot just sit and ignore! We implore our parishioners in Bihanga Parish to keep calm, desist from engaging in any form of violence as they seek redress from the concerned authorities,” Dr. Ampe wrote.
“The celebration of mass is a sacred act to the catholic community and any attempts to disrupt such by anyone irrespective of their status is an affront on the deepest of our beliefs and at the very least sacrilegious. Such actions call for spiritual cleansing of the offenders,” Mr Karamagi wrote.
A parish council meeting of 44 members of Bihanga parish also resolved that Mr Mwebesa apologises to the entire catholic community in Buhweju and Mbarara Archdiocese before the February 10 before the next course of action is discussed.
