Uganda will miss Lwanga’s ‘wise counsel’, says Museveni

Orthodox Archbishop Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga was laid to rest yesterday amid glowing tribute and a three-gun salute. 
President Museveni granted the prelate, a critic of his government’s excesses, an official burial in honour of his great earthly works and said Uganda will miss his wise counsel on governance and human rights issues.

Official burial, which the President grants at pleasure, is different from State burial, whose beneficiaries are specified in law. 
Contrary to his wishes to be buried in his ancestral Degeya hamlet in Luweero District, Archbishop Lwanga’s body was interred at around 3pm yesterday at St Nicholus Orthodox Church Namungoona, in Kampala, the seat of the Orthodox Church in Uganda. 

Mourners across the political divide eulogised Lwanga, who died in Greece early this month, as a forthright leader who spoke truth to power, often at a risk to himself, a selfless shepherd and warrior for social and economic justice. 

In a speech read for him by Vice President Jessica Alupo, designated by the President as chief mourner, Mr Museveni asked God to grant “fortitude and courage” in the trying and painful moment the passing on of an experienced religious leader. 
The deceased, according to the President, displayed in words and actions a high commitment to both the spiritual and social concerns of his congregation.  

President’s message
“Under the able stewardship of Lwanga, the Orthodox Church in Uganda attained a sizable membership and contributed to the socio-economic transformation of Uganda. His wise counsel on matters of governance and human rights will be missed”

Mr Museveni said in a condolence message read on his behalf by Vice President Alupo. 
He added: “I encourage the Orthodox Church to continue advancing Archbishop Lwanga’s great legacy of exemplary conduct and humble service to God and mankind.” 

A Taps call, the military’s final farewell song to honour fallen comrades, echoed on a bugle and a 3-gun salute rang out in the searing afternoon sun just as the gleaming hard-wood casket containing Lwanga’s body, lowered on a burial vault, touched the bottom of the grave.

He was interred next to the tomb of his predecessor Theodros Nankyama, the first Orthodox Archbishop in Uganda.  
Mr Mathias Mpuuga, the leader of Opposition, said that men of Lwanga’s pedigree were a rare find. 

“A voice for the voiceless, he offered comfort [and] belief that truth someday will prevail. When times were dark, his message carried light. He belonged to all of us. He was a special servant [who] never shied away from raising his voice,” he said of the Prelate who died aged 76. 

Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, the leader of National Unity Platform (NUP) party, said in his generation, Lwanga was a man who “spoke truth to power even when it was dangerous”.  

“He (Lwanga) spoke against clinging to power [and] oppression. Let’s carry on his legacy. It’s upon religious leaders to show us that when we run to you, you speak for us,” he said. 

The Opposition politician said it was disturbing that vocal clerics were dying one after the other, citing retired Masaka Bishop John Baptist Kaggwa, former Kampala Archbishop Cyprian Lwanga, two Muslim clerics Sheikh Nuhu Batte Muzaata and scholar Anas Kaliisa. 

“If you (religious leaders) are neutral in times of injustice you have chosen the side of the oppressor,” Bobi Wine said in a rendering of a quote attributed to South Africa’s anti-apartheid icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu. 

Buganda Premier Charles Peter Mayiga said Lwanga exuded humanity; it was easy to trust him and the kingdom enjoyed a cordial relationship with him for which Kabaka Ronald Mutebi lauded the prelate as a man who respected all religions, stood for people and loved tradition and kingdom. 

Nairobi Orthodox Archbishop Makarios, designated as the Orthodox caretaker Archbishop in Uganda, said Ugandans should be firm even during this trying hour.

“You may feel orphaned, by the repose of your long-serving Metropolitan. I am sure he ensured that the work continues after his departure from this life for this is the mark of every great leader. We pray that soon the Holy Synod of Alexandria will appoint a hierarchy worthy of the standards set by the late Jonah” Makarios said.   

The Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, and all of Africa, Theodros II, said because none is certain about the death of someone, Lwanga’s demise was devastating. 

“The soil of Uganda which gave birth to him, he regenerated in the spiritual pool of Orthodoxy spreading from one end to another the truth of the gospel as a tireless worker of the Lord’s Vineyard,” Theodros said in a statement.  

Speaking on behalf of the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda, Anglican Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba said Lwanga, as a founder member of the Council in 2001, carried its institutional memory. 

“We pray for his service to humanity and the many lives he touched during his ministry. All of us at IRCU miss him,” he said. 
Lwemiyaga Member of Parliament Theodre Ssekikubo, himself one of the estimated 500,000 Orthodox Christians in Uganda, said Lwanga had been diagnosed with spinal discs problems and he had made a stopover in Athens, Greece, on his way for missionary work in Albania in eastern Europe.

 “When he was checked they found he had another ailment that led to a surgery, but the disease had spread all over the body and he deteriorated until demise,” he said.