Ankole Diocese starts drive to empower men

Ankole Anglican Diocese has launched a programme aimed at empowering men and the boy-child.

Ankole Diocese Bishop Fred Sheldon Mwesigwa said the programme is intended to prioritise the duties and responsibilities of men and boys, whom he said have been neglected by society that largely focuses on women and the girl-child.

“On average, a typical man is lost, men have withdrawn and formed their own cocoon in gambling, alcoholism, playing pool as women progress in development and leadership,” he said during the launch of the programme dubbed ‘Year of Men’ at Mbarara High School grounds on April 17.

Bishop Mwesigwa also said the boy child is becoming an endangered species.

“There is no way you will say you are going to become a leader of Christians in church because you are a man when men are never in church, three quarters of Christians who come to church are women,” he said.

Mbarara City Resident Commissioner James Mwesigye said there is a need for deliberate efforts to create responsible men and boy children.

Neglecting roles
“On average, I get more than 10 domestic violence cases and the majority are because men have neglected their responsibilities, including selling family properties to marry more women, going for gambling, and alcoholism,” he said.

Mr Jim Barungi, the executive director of The Anointed Men in Uganda, a non-governmental organisation that looks at liberating men and the boy child in Uganda, said there is a parenting gap in Uganda that is keeping the boy child disadvantaged.

“Men have neglected their parenting roles to women and this has disadvantaged the boy child. Men have to rethink and take up their parenting and family responsibilities,” he said.

Mr Barungi appealed to the government to designate the International Day of Men to help them reflect on challenges faced by men and how they can be handled.

Mr Joab Muhwezi, the Ankole Diocese Fathers Union president who is spearheading the year of men, said during the period, they will make sure the message of liberating men and the boy child reaches the grassroots.

“We are going to use church structures on other ceremonies such as burials and weddings to see the message reaches the grass root so that we can bring men back in their responsible positions of society,” he said. 

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