Museveni appeals to clergy to preach hard work amid aid cuts

President Museveni poses with several clergy, including Apostlic Nucio to Uganda Michael Augutine Blume (2L) and new Archbishop of Tororo Diocese Emmanuel Obbo (R) on Sunday. PHOTO BY Joseph Omollo.

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President also urges Christians to produce more food so that they can sustain themselves even without donor support.

TORORO

President Museveni has asked religious leaders to rally behind him in the war with homosexual lobbyists that was sparked off when he signed the anti-gays Bill into law recently.

Speaking during the installation of the new Archbishop of Tororo Diocese, His Grace Dr Emmanuel Obbo at Uganda Martyrs Cathedral Nyangole in Tororo Municipality on Sunday, the President said Ugandans should resist Western cultures being imposed on Africans. “You are congratulating me for signing this Bill and it has already opened a war with us and those who support gays. I am not concerned about that war. I am more concerned about the laziness here,” Mr Museveni said.

“When you are lazy, you cannot fight. They will cut off their aid and support. That is why the campaign to wake up our people to work hard for food and money is important. Although we are going to fight this war on homosexuality, let us also produce more for money and food,” he added.

The President urged religious leaders to encourage people to participate in economic activities to avoid conditional aid.

Mr Museveni said modern commercial farming will not only improve house hold incomes also assist religious institutions with their financial needs as well as help boost the national economy.

“I was watching the gifts which people were giving as offertory and tithe. Our society is still organised along subsistence agriculture. We want to organise them towards a modern society where people bring cheques not one stick of sugarcane like the one I saw here,” he said. He said a money economy where individuals earn a minimum of Shs20m annually would ensure that all Christians are rich and can support Church projects.

The holy mass was celebrated by the new Archbishop Obbo, assisted by the Apostolic Nuncio of Uganda Archbishop Michael August Blume, among other clergy.