Are we worthy of St. Janani Luwum Day?

The brutality may not be exactly the same as that which prevailed in 1977, but brutality there is nevertheless. That many are hungry and are dying of hunger in a country that is gifted by nature is exactly because of insufficient moral courage among leaders, as a whole, and particularly so religious leaders. Time and…

The brutality may not be exactly the same as that which prevailed in 1977, but brutality there is nevertheless.

That many are hungry and are dying of hunger in a country that is gifted by nature is exactly because of insufficient moral courage among leaders, as a whole, and particularly so religious leaders.

Time and again religious leaders have failed to elevate their moral standing and to draw a line that would have them, as St. Janani Luwum, on the side of good.

But religion today in Uganda has become a commercial venture.

While many are dying of hunger and are hungry, there is a self-proclaimed ‘man of god’ who has branded rice from the harvest of his commercial farms as ‘holy rice’.

Which ‘holy rice’ he is selling at 50k shillings per kilogram. Ordinarily, a kilogram of rice is 3.5k shillings. How is this ‘man of god’ allowed to get away with such pure evil?

That many affluent Ugandans can actually afford to pay 50k shillings for a kilogram of rice, while many of their fellow countrymen and countrywomen are without food is a clear indication of gross inequality.

Policies that allow for such gross inequality to prevail cannot but be categorized as brutal.

Source: Daily Monitor

That there is money to afford tens of expensive cars and humans for protective convoys for Uganda’s ‘dear leaders’ and there isn’t money to afford sanitary towels for school going girls is the height of immorality, some have pointed out.

How is it that women in high positions instead demand that public funds be allocated to purchase helicopters to ease their travel and not for provision of sanitary towels for school going young girls?

How is it that many are out of touch and have lost their humanity? These are the questions that many ordinary Ugandans are asking?

While St. Janani Luwum practiced his faith for the greater good, the current practice of religion in Uganda is as opium – the ‘you-are-poor-for-you-have-not-prayed-enough’ crap.

This post first published on 18th February 2017, remains the more relevant nearly ten years later. This is scary!