Museveni in effort to end 27-year cathedral construction

Kampala. President Museveni is expected to grace a fundraising dinner today aimed at raising Shs571m to complete construction of the South Rwenzori Cathedral that has taken 27 years.
The Bishop of South Rwenzori Diocese, Rt Rev Jackson Nzerebende Tembo, said they hope the fundraising, which will be at Hotel Africana in Kampala, will be the last.

“The construction of the cathedral is almost complete with outstanding works including completion of offices, cathedral hall doors, rain water harvesting, landscaping, storm water drainage and provision of sanitation facilities all estimated at Shs571m,” Bishop Nzerebende said.
The cathedral has a 2,500 seating capacity.
President Museveni is known to contributing millions of shillings to construction of church projects. One of the most recent being All Saints Church where he donated Shs500m. He often uses such events to rally unity among the people.

Rwenzori Sub-region has been a hotbed of tribal conflicts that have left hundreds of people dead. This also led to direct confrontation between people loyal to Rwenzururu Kingdom and government forces.
The attacks left more than 200 people dead when the army raided the palace of the Omusinga Charles Mumbere in Kasese District in 2016.
Bishop Nzerebende said in the 27 years they have contributed more than Shs1b for the construction of the cathedral.

Asked why they chose to hold the dinner in Kampala, which is 450 kilometres away from the cathedral, he said many of their members work in the capital city and they also want to involve all the Christians in the country in the building of the body of Christ. “All the 27 years we have been getting contributions from the 300,000 Christians through their clans. This is the first time we are moving out of the region to reach out to Christians from all over the country,” he said.
Bishop Nzerebende said once they get the funds, they will complete the construction in 14 months.

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