+ All Categories
Home > Documents > Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

Date post: 06-Jul-2018
Category:
Upload: fred-ochieng
View: 218 times
Download: 0 times
Share this document with a friend

of 17

Transcript
  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    1/17

    Pastoral Letter Buidling a peaceful, stable and thriving Nation: 

    Our prophetic role in the 2016 General

    lections

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    2/17

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    3/17

    !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.

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    4/17

    * 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.

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    5/17

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    6/17

    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

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    7/17

    the space

    to e"ercise their constitutional rights without coercion and to build mutual

    trust among the citizens.

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    8/17

    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

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    9/17

    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.

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    10/17

    / 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

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    11/17

    !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.

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    12/17

    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.

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    13/17

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    14/17

    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

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    15/17

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    16/17

  • 8/17/2019 Ircu Pastoral Handbook a5 c2 (2)

    17/17

    4nter!8eligious 1ouncil of *ganda

    6.7.:o" (ampala *ganda6lot --?, 1entenary 8oad,

    'amirembe ;ill ir cu@i r cu.o r .ug

    A>=B ?+? C?>-=B C+> >B=B


Recommended