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Pastoral Letter Buidling a peaceful, stable and thriving Nation:
Our prophetic role in the 2016 General
lections
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!or"ing together for peaceful and violence free 2016 Pastoral Letter 201# 1
Preamble
As Uganda celebrated 50 years of Independence, we, religious leaders, took time to
reflect on our contribution to nation building during this period. We noted that we hae
made tremendous contribution in the proision of education, health serices as well as
giing people meaning and hope during the turbulent times of our political history.
We also reflected on our sad history, when, as faith groups, we were inoled in
rialry and battles for influence. We thank !od for efforts of our forefathers and present
leaders
in establishing institutions such as the Uganda "oint #hristian #ouncil, Uganda
$uslim %upreme #ouncil and Inter&'eligious #ouncil of Uganda, which hae brought
us
together to sere !od(s people and our country.
)or religious leaders to be effectie in their work for peace and stability, we agreed
to uphold the following alues and principles.
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* upholding alues of dialogue and peaceful co&e+istence in fulfilling our prophetic
calling, as inspired by oly %cripture and guided by our national motto-
* strengthen and participate actiely, through our local interfaith structures, in
addressing obstacles to our working together for national peace, stability
and deelopment-
* create platforms for interfaith dialogue and understanding among I'#U members-
* guard against tendencies that seek to undermine our unity-
* draw from our e+perience in 011 to work tirelessly to engage releant actors to
create an enironment for peaceful, non&iolent and fair elections in 01/.
As religious leaders we beliee that Uganda, our motherland can regain her glory as
the earl of Africa and that !od has gien us the necessary infrastructure and
leadership to mobilie and organie the entire country to work for peace and stability
in this country.
We also beliee that peace and stability is a collectie endeaor with eery citien
and sector in society playing its role diligently.
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Elections provide an opportunity for
citizens to serve
in elective of#ces
Those who feel called to serve in elective o$ces are vying for positions
through either political party structures or as independent candidates.
%erving one&s country is always a privilege and an honour. We, therefore,
call upon those vying for elective o$ces not to treat it as a matter of life
and death, giving the impression that this is the only way they can serve
their country. They should refrain from adversarial approaches to
leadership, but demonstrate a spirit of openness to collaborate and reach
out even to those who are not members of their political party. 'ation
building is always a collective effort of all the citizens, and developing
economies like ours should ma"imize the use of all the available human
resources in order to harness the skills among our citizens, even if they are
of different political or religious persuasions.
Elections can trigger violence in a country
We are acutely aware of what happened to our neighbours in (enya.
'ational solidarity should supersede political party interests. )s citizens of
*ganda, this is our country where we all must live in peace and thrive. We
cannot wish others away because they have chosen to support a certain
political party or candidate. We, therefore, owe it to each other to
ensurethat we live in peace. We plead with all *gandans, especially security
agencies
to act within the spirit of our national motto and ensure that everybody has
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the space
to e"ercise their constitutional rights without coercion and to build mutual
trust among the citizens.
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For Elections to contribute to national
cohesion and
stability, they must be builton integrity
We continue to live with the reality that grievances with regard to the
elections in +- sparked o/ an armed insurgency in 0uwero in which
thousands of our fellow citizens lost their lives and many more continue to
nurse the effects of that war. We, therefore, urge those institutions that
have a role to play in managing the electoral processes namely, the
Electoral 1ommission, the 2udiciary, %ecurity agencies, and political parties
to e"ercise their
mandates with integrity, due diligence and fairness.
Elections can lead to a peaceful political
transition in the 1ountry
While *ganda has not e"perienced peaceful political transitions, in many
countries, elections are the means through which change of 3overnments
come. Elections are, therefore, always pregnant of possibilities. 4t is
important for both the political party in
3overnment and those in the
opposition to internalize the possibilities that elections may bring. %ince
leadership, if and when, rightly understood is about service, then those
aspiring for leadership must not underestimate or overestimate their
capacities. They
should allow the citizens to decide whom they want to give a chance to
serve them. Those seeking elective o$ces should, therefore, be
psychologically prepared to either win gracefully or lose honourably.
1ivilized politics presupposes that those who aspire for higher elective
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o$ces have developed a level of statesmanship and patriotism. *nder no
circumstances should they impose their personal ambitions and opinions
against the will of the people, as is the case with some of the leaders of
our neighbouring countries that have degenerated into political unrest.
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/ Pastoral Letter 201# !or"ing together for peaceful and violence free 2016
While Elections are a process, strictly they are
a one!
day event
1itizens must engage in all the electoral activities like registering to vote,
evaluating those who are aspiring for different o/ices and going out to vote.
5ore often, electoral processes create polarized relationships in the
communities. This disrupts harmony and sometimes leads to domestic
violence. We would like to plead with politicians to appreciate that the
bonds that hold the people in communities together are like their
insurance policy. They depend on each other for survival. 6oliticians
should, therefore, desist from sowing seeds of hatred during the
campaigns. They should also avoid unleashing violence on the
communities through their militia groups.
Elections are meaningful if people are able to vote
without being bribed
Through civic education, 1ivil %ociety 7rganizations must sensitize and
educate the citizens to enable them realize that the way they e"ercise their
right to vote may have conseuences for their well!being for the ne"t five
years and more. 8eligious leaders need also to educate voters to learn to
e"change their votes for long!term social services and not short!lived gifts
e.g. soap, salt, sugar etc. Those politicians that seek to buy votes should be
de!campaigned because they are responsible for the impoverishment of the
people to the e"tent that a 9gift& worthy a few thousand shillings is seen as
manna from heaven. The 9politics of the stomach& where leaders distort the
choices of the citizenry from voting for substance needs to be
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!or"ing together for peaceful and violence free 2016 Pastoral Letter 201# 2
discouraged. The population needs to be helped to appreciate the need for
hard work and to choose leaders that are committed to supporting them in
their productive endeavours instead of those who seek to turn them into
perpetual beggars.
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3od knows the hearts of people since
elections are
about choosing human beingsto manage our affairs
4t is critical for citizens to appreciate that human beings can be deceitful.
4t is for this
reason that people of faith must seek guidance from 3od
about who to entrust with the responsibilities of leadership. :ad leaders
bring a curse to the country and cause suffering
to 3od&s people, while
good leaders edify the nation and cause sustainable development. We,
therefore, implore all religious leaders to create spaces for sustained
prayers for the
nation and to listen to what 3od might be saying in light of
the current events.
;olding peaceful elections should be everyone&s choice
Fellow citizens we plead with you to invest in peaceful elections. The peace
and transformed society we all desire will not come on a silver platter, we
need to work for it. )nd holding peaceful elections, is one of the means that
will ensure national stability as we work hard towards that desired end.
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His Grace Dr.
Cyprian i!itoLwanga
Arch!isho"amala
Archdiocese
His Eminence
Metropolitan Jonah
Lwanga
Arch!isho,Uganda Orthodo#Church
His Grace theMost "e#.
Stanley$tagali
Arch!isho, Provinceof the Church ofUganda
%r. Daniel Matte
President, Seventh$da% Adventist
Uganda Union
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