Will Anita Among go to heaven and Kakwenza, Agather to hell?

Days after the #UgandaParliamentExhibition started, Ugandans started sharing a photo of Speaker Anita Among meeting with the Pope. Precious few Catholics get to meet the head of the Catholic Church in person and receive his blessings.

Then, a day after a news magazine article that alleged “massive fraud” in Parliament, which has attracted the attention of the Special Forces Command (SFC), Ms Among posted on X about a US pastor she had met. 

She said: “We were honoured this evening to host American gospel singer and founding pastor of the Forward City Church, Travis Greene, at our home. We had a great time worshipping the Lord and giving thanks to him for his mercies that endure forever.”

The existence of the Lord is highly debatable (and I strongly believe he is imaginary). But, for argument’s sake, let us assume that the Lord exists and knows all there is to know in Uganda — and the world. He knows Ms Among, knows her job, knows everything she has done and has been doing since she became Speaker.

Is he really happy with her?
Ms Among has not responded to the exposé on horrendous corruption in Parliament. But a poll conducted on social media and in which 20,636 Ugandans voted found that 88 percent want her to resign.

So, would the Lord allow Ms Among into heaven given all the shocking revelations about the institution she leads that we have been treated to? 

Consider this interesting contrast: Ms Among’s fiercest critic is the writer and lawyer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija who fled Uganda in 2022 after security forces nearly killed him over his criticism of President Museveni’s son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Mr Rukirabashaija, who has used his social media platforms to fire off posts that are shockingly insulting and very critical of Ms Among, is a non-believer, unlike Ms Among.

But if you googled him, you would struggle to find anything about him that bears comparison with what has been said or documented about the Speaker in the course of the #UgandaParliamentExhibition.

And you have to wonder: Why do Ugandans who put religion and worship of/belief in God before everything fail to live up to the high moral standards expected of them? Parliament is full of men and women who profess to be deeply religious. Some, who are Muslims, pray five times a day. 

Ms Among is as religious as they come. But is her religiosity impressing the Lord? Is it advancing the kind of leadership Ugandans want to have?

Enter Agather Atuhaire, another bête noire of Ms Among’s. Ms Atuhaire is a petite, intrepid, award-winning freelance journalist who has turned up the heat on the Speaker in ways that are truly remarkable. 

She has used her X account to share numerous documents revealing fraud and financial impropriety at Parliament. 

She has also challenged those who have called her documents fakes to provide evidence that they are. No one at Parliament has done so.

In the eyes of the Lord that Ugandans worship, Ms Atuhaire, not Ms Among, should be the heroine. She is telling Ugandans — millions of whom live in poverty but have to be taxed every month, every year — that politicians have shamelessly turned taxpayers’ money into their toy. She is the prize example of how independent journalism, especially if it is practised in a functioning democracy, can hold leaders accountable.

Why would this journalist or Mr Rukirabashaija go to hell and a woman the public is angry with go to heaven? Why?

Mr Musaazi Namiti is a journalist and former
Al Jazeera digital editor in charge of the Africa desk
[email protected]    @kazbuk