Museveni commends clergy for fight against corruption

President Museveni has applauded religious leaders for championing the fight against corruption. 
In a statement shared on X during the Sunday Easter celebrations yesterday, Mr Museveni said: “I was very happy to hear the religious leaders’ message of condemning corruption. Keep it up. The corrupt are parasites that delay and undermine our transformation efforts.” 

 “However, I would like to inform the religious leaders that from the very beginning, the NRM [National Resistance Movement] was conscious of this problem. Indeed, in the 1960s, I was involved in fighting the corruption of the chiefs, the teachers misusing (defiling) school girls, vets and medical staff stealing government drugs, etc.,” he added. 

The President is the national chairman of NRM political party. 
 “That is why in addition to the administrative government structures of District Commissioner (DC), County Chief, Gombolola Chief, Muruka Chief, etc., we empowered the people, the victims of the corruption most of the time because the money and resources stolen are meant for them, or they are forced to pay bribes, by giving them power to elect their own leaders to be the Nyamparas (overseers) of what the Government People (the administrators) are doing in their area- good or bad,” the Head of State said.

Mr Museveni’s message comes at a time when a section of clergy in their Easter Sunday messages addressed topical issues currently affecting the country, with the issues of corruption and land-grabbing standing out. 
Land grabbing, the President said, is also due to corruption. 
“The land grabbing is not happening on the moon. It is happening in a village, a parish, a sub-county, a constituency, a district, etc. There are structures-administrative, popular (elected), political (RDCs), security (DISOs, GISOs, etc.), and religious. All these have information that could help in these problems,” he said. 

He advised the religious leaders to also look at the issue of wealth creation and talk about it. 
The Head of State saluted the religious leaders for forming the Inter-Religious Council in the year 2001 whose agenda is to bring together all the religious faiths of the country. 
“Keep it up and uproot completely the ungodly practices of sectarianism,” he said. 

Mr Museveni and the First Lady, Ms Janet Kataaha Museveni, who is also the Minister of Education and Sports, briefly spent the Easter holidays at his country home in Rwakitura, Kiruhura District, before heading to another in Kisozi in Gomba District. 
On Good Friday, a day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the President said he spent the day watching the good sermons given by the Christian preachers (bishops and others), around the theme of the “Way of the Cross”. 

“I was glad to hear all the preachers talking of the greatest Christian commandments being two. Those are: Love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, love your neighbor as you love yourself,” he said.