Illusion of religious differences

Dear Tingasiga:
It began as a simple idea seven years ago. The International Community of Banyakigezi (ICOB), conceived in Toronto in 2003 and born in Washington DC in 2004, has exceeded the modest expectations of a small group of us who midwifed its birth and nurtured it through its challenging infancy.

What we thought would be an opportunity to network and to raise funds to help a few of our people has become a formidable organisation through which the people of Kigezi have found their identity, a common voice and a shared vision to rise to the challenge of reviving the spirit of excellence that was the signature theme of Kigezi of our youth.

Our annual conventions have become an addiction for many of us who treasure the opportunity to enjoy a great time with family and friends, learn new ideas from some of the world’s finest brains and think together about the betterment of our community.

ICOB has also been very active during the period between the conventions, its major focus being the development of centres of excellence in technical education. The Rukungiri Technical Institute at Kyamakanda and the Nyakatare Technical Institute in Kanungu have already benefitted from ICOB funding. Both of these institutions are affiliated with the Anglican Church of Uganda.

ICOB is now working closely with the Catholic Diocese of Kabale to identify and develop another centre of excellence in computer sciences and information technology. Our success is partly rooted in our insistence on an intra-organisational culture of blindness to ethnic and religious identities of its members, which has made ICOB a beacon of hope in a community that has a long history of ethnic tensions and sporadic religious conflicts.

Likewise, we have resisted efforts to paint the organisation with Ugandan political party colours. Perhaps the singular evidence that ICOB has succeeded in being a genuine non-partisan vehicle for the unity of Banyakigezi was the welcome attendance at the Kabale Convention last December by President Museveni and Dr Kizza Besigye, leader of the main opposition party, FDC.

“I am also a Munyakigezi,” President Museveni declared on December 29, 2009.
Back in 2003, Mr Museveni, uncertain about our intentions, dispatched a five-person delegation to Toronto to attend our founding convention. Within hours of their arrival, the delegation, comprised of Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi, Brigadier Kale Kayihura, Ministers George Mondo Kagonyera and Hope Ruhindi Mwesigye, and Robert K. Rutaagi, recognised that ours was a group of Banyakigezi who were engaged in the business of building a healthy community.

Soon the delegation was in the thick of merry-making, with Mondo supplying a torrent of humour that remains as memorable as the faith that propelled us forward as we embarked on the great experiment. More significantly, the President’s emissaries became founder-members of ICOB.

Happily, the leaders and members of ICOB have worked hard to fulfil the dreams of those who travelled to Toronto seven years ago. We have remained focused on our goal, insisting on truthful, transparent and inclusive growth of our community. That strategy has paid off very well. Banyakigezi and friends of Kigezi have come to understand ICOB to be what it really is, namely, a home that welcomes everyone, regardless of political, religious, ethnic or other label.

That is why ICOB views with deep regret and concern the resurgence of religious exploitation by political competitors in Kigezi. There is no place for religious intolerance and exploitation in the kind of Kigezi that we seek to build. There is no difference between a Catholic and a Protestant . The illusion of difference is what triggers tensions that are exploited by opportunists. The people of Kigezi must say no, for we are one.

The basic needs of Banyakigezi – good health care, jobs and other economic opportunities, better education, access to affordable loans, infrastructure development and environment protection – are non-sectarian.

The landslides that devastated parts of Kigezi did not single out Catholics or Protestants. The filthy streets of Kabale threaten the health of all Banyakigezi, not those of one religion. Kabale Hospital’s substandard facilities are endured by Catholics, Protestants and non-believers alike.

The reason why Kigezi remains one of the poorest regions in the country is not because it has been led or represented in Parliament by Catholics or Protestants. Certainly the solution to Kigezi’s enormous challenges is not to elect more MPs of one religion or other. Rather the solution will begin with choosing leaders of high integrity, clear vision and a track record of accomplishment. The religious labels of those leaders are completely irrelevant to their abilities.

We invite Banyakigezi to examine ICOB’s mode of operation. We have chosen our leaders on the basis of their abilities, their integrity and their commitment to the organisation’s long-term vision. Ours has been a leadership that has been blind to our individual religious, political and ethnic labels.

It was my honour and privilege to have been ordained to galvanise Banyakigezi in the Diaspora to start what became ICOB. I look back with gratitude that my call to action was answered without any hesitation by many Kigezi patriots.

Yet we must not suffer the error of self-congratulation and the illusion of accomplishment. There is so much that remains to be done to bring all Banyakigezi on board. This is the task that we now hand over to the new crop of leaders that will be elected at our annual convention which begins in Boston, Massachusetts this Thursday.