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Religious leaders want stake in government
Publish Date: Apr 17, 2015
RELIGIOUS leaders under the Inter Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) want a belonging within the government structure in order to adequately supplement on government's efforts of restoring morals in the communities.
The leaders attribute the increasing moral decadence within the community to government’s failure to involve them in the implementation of its programs.
During a meeting organized by the ministry of ethics and integrity at Pope Paul Memorial Centre in Rubaga, the leaders led by the Presiding Apostle of the Born Again faith, Dr. Joseph Serwada claim that the government has failed to manage ethics and integrity in the country just because of its failure to partner with them.
He contends that ever since Government passed a policy restraining them from being part of the Non-Government Organization (NGO) forum, they have never been attached to any ministry.
"Government said Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) are no longer part of the NGO forum, the same government has not taken us over, what is it waiting for to house us? Why doesn't the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity take over the FBOS and make a home for them?" questioned Serwadda.
He said "The ministry of ethics and integrity has core values which we preach in churches and mosques, government is missing out on using us, they carry the same messages we carry. It is a matter of them letting us pass on the messages because we are currently operating on a free range system."
He explained that the ministry of Ethics and integrity has failed to define ethics and its core values not knowing that it is wide and not limited to only pornography and prostitution.
“This wide concept of ethics and integrity involves restoring morals right from home, respect, discipline which we have the opportunity to preach at our pulpits, “he said.
He said that once government joins them in implementing its policies on ethics and integrity, this will greatly contribute to reduction in corruption tendencies.
“Government will continue saying we are not partners yet this is not true, they will say religious groups are detached from us they are not part of us, which is demeaning to us," he said.
Leaders who represented the Anglican, Catholic, Islam and the Born Again faiths faulted government over the increasing moral decadence saying that it has failed to control corruption in the country, citing examples of corrupt officers who have been set free after courts failing to prove them guilty.
Rev Oneimus Asiimwe, who represented the Anglican faith said that the best way to implement government policy on corruption is by getting rid of the people who pretend to be anti -corrupt yet they are promoting corruption.
"If we are to address corruption we should start by re-examining the integrity and ethics of people and their morals," Asiimwe said.
He suggested that government should consider consulting religious leaders during employment saying they can easily identify those who are God fearing and those carefree people.
The Uganda Muslim Supreme Council social Services Secretary, Ramadhan Mugalu advised that for the country to fight corruption in the society, it needs to design anti-corruption concepts bringing the youth on board as they form the largest number of the population.
Mugalu also called for integration of ethics and integrity into the training institution’s curriculum to enhance a strong foundation of ethics into the young generation.
Responding to the concerns of the religious leaders, the director of ethics and integrity at the directorate of ethics and integrity, Can Amos Lapenga, said that the meeting was meant to bring religious leaders together so that they can widen the audience to help government fight corruption in the country.
Lapenga said that religious leaders are at the centre of fighting and disseminating corruption messages using their pulpits adding that it the reason why they have decided to bring them closer to share ideas on how to fight corruption and immorality.
