May election of Pope Leo bring Uganda good fortune
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, May 8, 2025. PHOTO/REUTERS
What you need to know:
- As we prepare for the 2026 General Election, Uganda could take a cue from the centuries-old papal conclave. The rules and norms have been perfected over hundreds of years, allowing for a process that is welcomed by all the cardinals and Catholic faithful.
Two sets of elections happened this week. The first was carried out across the more than 70,000 villages in Uganda to elect the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party's grassroots leadership and LCI flagbearers. We shall return to this one later.
The second started on Wednesday when the Catholic Church initiated the conclave, a highly confidential gathering of eligible cardinals to elect the next leader of about 1.3 billion members worldwide.
There were 135 cardinals from whom the next Pope was picked, and while each of them stood an equal chance in the race, there were frontrunners known as “papabile,” who had at least some of the qualities considered necessary to be Pope.
And on Thursday evening, a joyous crowd in St Peter's Square cheered and applauded as the first puffs of smoke emerged from a small chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where the cardinals had been holding their secret ballot.
Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the Catholic Church, taking the name Leo XIV, becoming the first US pontiff. In the aftermath, hundreds of faithful from across the globe accepted the cardinals’ choice and welcomed Pope Leo XIV.
Had the elections been a Ugandan affair, the outcome would have most likely been different. A few cardinals would probably be missing, others would be running to court this morning to contest the outcome, and we would be counting the bodies the election left in its wake.
Coincidentally, the election of the new Pope comes as Uganda prepares for a general election that will usher in leaders for the next five years. Sadly, in Uganda, elections are a matter of life and death, normally leaving the country more divided than united.
During the NRM elections this week, three people lost their lives. In the same week, the leader of Uganda’s largest Opposition party wrote to elders from one of the regions to come out and condemn what he called tribal sentiments being peddled by another leader. As we prepare for the 2026 General Election, Uganda could take a cue from the centuries-old papal conclave.
The rules and norms have been perfected over hundreds of years, allowing for a process that is welcomed by all the cardinals and Catholic faithful. As we welcome Pope Leo, Ugandans need to learn that picking a leader should not be a matter of life and death. By now, we should know that the process is as good as the outcome.
