The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda Rt. Rev. Stanley Ntagali has called upon Ugandans to turn to Christ in exchange for eternal life.

The Archbishop was delivering his Easter message at his provisional office at Namirembe before he joined other Christians in ‘Carrying the Cross’ to symbolize the suffering of Jesus Christ.

“The message of Easter is that if you want to have eternal life, the only way is through Jesus. You must first renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil. You must renounce the ‘thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy …’ Rt. Rev. Ntagali told the Christians.

The Man of God condemned the rampant murders especially of women, witnessed in the recent past.

“I want to encourage all of us this Easter to reject the growing culture of death around us and, instead, promote a culture of life,” he said, adding: “We all know about the random killings that have been taking place, especially of women, and the delay in solving the mystery of who the killers are and bringing them to justice. The increasing number of deaths and the seeming inability to do anything about them is part of our current culture of death but this is not the way of Jesus.

He also castigated those advocating for the legalization of abortion, saying that it promotes the culture of meting out death to the most vulnerable among us, the unborn.

“When someone kills someone else just to steal a phone, what does that tell us about the value of life? It says that life is cheap but, actually, life is not cheap. Jesus died and rose again so that we could have life. Life is very costly,” the Archbishop stressed.

He also noted that the culture of death has taken root in South Sudan and many provinces in eastern Congo, creating a big impact on Uganda.

The Archbishop said in two months’ time, Uganda Martyrs Day will be commemorated at a special celebration in Namugongo on June 3, and he revealed that the Greater Kigezi Dioceses will organise of this year’s celebrations, with the committee co-chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda and his predecessor John Patrick Amama Mbabazi.

Archbishop Ntagali urged Christians to make a special effort to mobilise big numbers from their dioceses to participate in this year’s Martyrs’ Day celebrations, and also disclosed that there will be a health camp and other programs for children and youth.

Stories Continues after ad

Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi has congratulated Ugandans for completing the Lenten period, and asked them to reflect on their relation with God.

‘As we read in the Scriptures, the resurrection of Jesus offers us hope that we shall one day die and resurrect to eternal life in heaven. In this period we meditate about our lives and repent all our wrongdoings to strengthen the bond between us and the Almighty God,’ the Kabaka’s message reads in part.

The Kabaka also noted that cultural institutions had contributed in helping Ugandans develop their country, and was appreciative of the progress registered in the development of several projects such as ‘Twekobe’ in Mengo among other palaces.

“Income rate in the Kingdom is low therefore we shall insist on demanding for all our monies to finalise all our projects this year,” his message adds.

Meanwhile, a few days ago the Buganda Kingdom hosted delegates from Kikuyu Kingdom of Kenya in a bid to strengthen the bond between the two cultural institutions.

Stories Continues after ad

The Leader of the Opposition, Winfred Kiiza, says that officials accused of mismanaging funds for refugees should be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Kiiza, who was speaking during a live stream on social media organised by Parliament’s Communications and Public Affairs Department, said that such actions tantamount to crimes against humanity.

“For someone to subject a refugee to sexual abuse, trafficking and extorting money; that is inhuman and deserves to be punished,” said Kiiza.

The Government of Uganda was recently on the spot over allegations of misuse of funds for refugees, inflation of refugee numbers, bribery and trafficking of refugee girls.

And according to Kizza, government should take stern action against its officials causing confusion in the management of refugee funds.

Kiiza also said that instead of managing the refugee influx in the country, government agencies are fighting for the US$50 million that was borrowed from the International Development Association of the World Bank for communities hosting refugees.

“This poses a question as to whether we are receiving refugees for purposes of helping them or to take advantage of their plight to make money,” said Kiiza.

She also advised government to screen refugees in order to fight inflation of refugee numbers, as well as ensure that those with criminal intentions are not registered.

“If government can introduce the biometric system of registering refugees, it can help capture the actual numbers and enable the tracking of refugees,” said Kiiza.

About a month ago three officials from the refugee department of the Office of the Prime Minister including Commissioner Apollo Kazungu were interdicted on allegations of mismanaging aid meant for refugees, and inflating their numbers to benefit from increased funding.

Stories Continues after ad