Priest on the spot for preaching change
Fr Mugisha accuses President Museveni (pictured) of failing to stick to his promise of relinquishing power after clocking 75 years
What you need to know:
- “People determine their leaders, who is Mugisha to question their wisdom. If he feels that the urge to engage in politics has overwhelmed his clerical mission, he would be better off resigning from the church and join the trenches of politics,’’ Presidential Assistant Faruk Kirunda
Fr Richard Mugisha, a Catholic priest at Bisanje Parish in Masaka Diocese, is on the spot for using the pulpit to ask Ugandans to vote for change in the coming General Election.
In the video clip, which went viral on various social media platforms yesterday, the youthful priest condemns top government officials for not prioritising issues affecting Ugandans, but instead focus on themselves.
Fr Mugisha accuses President Museveni of failing to stick to his promise of relinquishing power after clocking 75 years .
Presidential Assistant Faruk Kirunda yesterday hit back at the man of God, accusing him of hypocrisy and abusing the pulpit by mixing religion with partisan politics.
“People determine their leaders, who is Mugisha to question their wisdom...,” Mr Kirunda said.
The priest also wondered why government proposes to construct roads in the neighbouring DR Congo yet there are still many poor roads in the countryside.
When contacted, Fr Mugisha, without responding to Mr Kirunda, confirmed having passed on the message to the electorate.
“I can hardly add to what I said. The message was very clear. What I can tell you now is that I gave that message while talking to people in Kyotera District ,” he said.
Fr Mugisha urged youth to achieve a degree of control over their own destiny by voting a new leader who will turn around the country.
“These people [in government] are buying off all the land in your area because they hold offices, where they can easily access taxpayers money and you can’t recognise this,” he said.
He also took a swipe at the commander of Masaka-based Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) Mechanised Brigade, Brig Deus Sande, who recently said the army will not hand over power to people who are ideologically bankrupt.
Mr Ofwono Opondo, the Media Centre boss, said: “It is not the duty of the priest to tell people whom they should vote for. If he said so, it will be the people of Kyotera to decide, but not him because he is not even the first priest to preach in that partisan manner.”
Fr Ronald Mayanja, the Masaka Diocesan spokesperson, said the diocese would soon release an official statement on the matter.
