Site. People move past Kasubi Tombs that is still under construction on August 30, 2019. Lack of accountability is reported to have forced the US Embassy to demand a refund of money they had donated for the reconstruction process. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
BEFORE: The Kasubi Tombs before they were burnt . The site is a symbol of spiritual, political, and social state of the Buganda nation. FILE PHOTO
MUST WATCH:
Shepherds of Christ or Politicians: Kasubi tombs
fire has opened our eyes
https://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2010/04/shepherds-of-christ-or-politicians.html
'SHEEP' THAT PROTECT THE DRAGON: Pentecostal
movement mourns with Buganda over loss of Kasubi tombs
https://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2010/03/sheep-that-protect-dragon-pentecostal.html
KASUBI TOMBS INFERNO EXPOSES THE MERGER OF
ECUMENISIM WITH SATANISM: APOSTLE ALEX MITALAJOINS ECUMENISM
https://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2010/03/kasubi-tombs-inferno-exposes-merger-of.html
How US fallout with Mengo froze Kasubi Tombs funds
Monday April 20 2020
Details have
emerged how lack of accountability forced the US Embassy to demand a
refund of thousands of dollars which had been donated for the
reconstruction of Buganda’s royal tombs at Kasubi.
The
US Embassy had contributed $250,000 (about Shs942.7m) towards the
reconstruction of Kasubi royal tombs and agreed with the Buganda Kingdom
administration at Mengo to set up an information centre that would
update the public on all phases of the reconstruction project.
The
State Department through the US embassy in Kampala signed an agreement
with Mengo and released an initial part of the $250,000 to the kingdom.
The agreement was signed on September 29, 2014 between the then deputy
Katikkiro Ssemambo Ssekimpi and the US Embassy officials.
However,
the funding was later cancelled after Mengo failed to account for the
first payment despite several reminders via email and telephone from the
US embassy demanding accountability.
This state of affairs forced Ms Suzan Parker Burns, a State Department official, to formally inform Mengo on September 25, 2015 that the grant had been cancelled.
The Katikkiro, a staunch catholic, in Bbaale Buddu at the ancestral ground of his clan, Omutima Omuyanja!He received blessing from the spirits of is dead ancestors.
This state of affairs forced Ms Suzan Parker Burns, a State Department official, to formally inform Mengo on September 25, 2015 that the grant had been cancelled.
The Katikkiro, a staunch catholic, in Bbaale Buddu at the ancestral ground of his clan, Omutima Omuyanja!He received blessing from the spirits of is dead ancestors.
“After three phone calls and emails sent to your office between March and September 2015 to inquire about the project status without any satisfactory response, the Department of State has come to the conclusion that the project is failing to make satisfactory progress towards the goals, objectives and performance measures set forth under the award,” Ms Suzan wrote.
“Effective upon this notice
of termination, you must stop all work on the programme and not incur
any new obligations after the effective date of this notice,” she added.
By Vision Reporter
Added 2nd April 2010 03:00 AM
RELIGIOUS leaders have defended their involvement in the Kasubi tombs prayers last week, which had been criticised by some Christians for the site’s association with ancestral worship.
By Ben Okiror
RELIGIOUS leaders have defended their involvement in the Kasubi tombs prayers last week, which had been criticised by some Christians for the site’s association with ancestral worship.
The prayers were led by Archbishop Cyprian Lwanga of the Kampala Catholic Archdiocese, who was wearing a bark cloth sash for the occasion.
He was joined by leaders of the Anglican, Pentecostal and Orthodox Churches as well as the Muslim faith.
Namirembe diocese Bishop Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira represented the Anglican Church.
Jonah Lwanga attended on behalf of the Orthodox Church in Uganda, while Zubair Kayongo of the Kibuli faction represented the Muslim community. Apostle Alex Mitala, represented Born-Again churches.
The religious leaders argued that they were only there to mourn with the Baganda and did not get involved in witchcraft. Pastors of some Born-again churches had objected to the presence of Christian leaders at the event.
Michael George Kizito, the president of the Watchman Africa Discernment Ministry, argued that Christians should not associate themselves with the tombs, a place where witchdoctors used to go to renew their powers..
The burning of the tombs was unacceptable, wrote Kizito in The New Vision yesterday. However, there is no way a true Christian can pray to God to rebuild a temple where satanic rituals, such as devil invocation, pipe smoking, ancestral possession, fire altars, ritual cleansing and worship of the dead are practised.
Pastor Anthony Owalu of Hope Restoration Ministries, while also condemning the burning of the tombs, said it was wrong for the religious leaders to pray at the Kasubi site. They should have called for a prayer elsewhere and consecrate that place (Kasubi) to God. I would not want to be associated with such a place as a religious leader because of the traditional rituals that are being practiced there.
Archbishop Lwanga has rejected the accusations, saying his critics were uninformed. He said Jesus Christ asked his apostles to spread the gospel to anybody without boundaries.
He cited Apostle Paul’s visit to Athens where he explained to idol-worshippers that the unknown god was actually the Almighty God.
We were there for a good purpose and nothing about witchcraft was mentioned, Lwanga said. We have bishops buried in the church compound, is that witchcraft? Ignorance prompts people to make such sweeping statements.
Sheikh Hassan Kirya, the spokesperson for Kayongo, said they were there to pray for Kabaka Mutesa I since he was the first Muganda to embrace Islam. Islam teaches us to pray for the dead and because Mutesa I did a lot to spread Islam, he is more important to us than anyone else, Kirya said.
He explained that a Koran and the kettle used during the king’s ablution were lying on his tomb, according to the Islamic tradition. The mosque in Kasubi was the first in Uganda, built in the 1880s,he noted.
He added that the Muslims who went for the Kasubi tombs prayers were not part of witchcraft or the rituals performed that day.
Pastor Martin Sempa of the Makerere Community Church said he was there to ask God to extinguish the fires in grieving people’s hearts that were ignited by strife.
He agreed that there were some unchristian cultural practices by the kingdom but these were changing because of the church’s involvement. The policy of disengagement is abdication of our responsibility as religious leaders, Sempa said. Even the Bible teaches to mourn with those who mourn. A family is a family and if the behaviour of some members may be unworthy, it does not mean you don’t attend family functions.
The retired Anglican bishop of Mityana, Dunstan Bukenya, said the event was of critical nature and those who denounced the prayers were wrong. He said Kasubi was a burial place like any other. If a night dancer went to a grave, it would not stop other people from visiting it.
However, his successor, Stephen Kazimba, who did not go to Kasubi because of other commitments, said he would have first established what would take place to ensure it did not conflict with his faith.
Kazimba last year led a team of two other Anglican bishops and five clergy members to destroy a traditional shrine in a village in Mityana after the owner repented.
He however absolved his colleagues who went to Kasubi, saying they could have gone to show solidarity with the mourners without knowing what else was taking place there.
The Buganda kingdom’s deputy information minister, Medard Lubega, acknowledged that certain cultural practices took place at the Kasubi Tombs.
However, he said, any rituals performed were exclusively the business of those concerned.
I am a Christian who lives among people of different religions but I do not take offence at their practices, he noted
Church leaders are encouraged to go where satanic practices are performed to preach the gospel, he added.
He called the discussion diversionary and reiterated Mengo’s call for an independent probe into the cause of the fire.
Our concentration is on investigating who exactly burnt the tombs.
Apology to the Kabaka of Buganda
Tuesday April 28 2020
Our story, "How US
fallout with Mengo froze Kasubi Tombs funds", on Monday April 20, 2020,
contained inaccuracies. The correct amount offered by the U.S. Embassy
was $5,000 and not $250,000 as we reported. There was also no fallout
between Mengo and the US embassy.
The money was meant
for the erection of an information board. It wasn't used in the specific
time-frame and was refunded hence accounted for.
We
sincerely apologise to His Majesty the Kabaka, the Katikkiro and to the
Buganda Kingdom officials for any inconveniences caused by our
misreporting.
Editor.
Kasubi prayers cause debate
Added 2nd April 2010 03:00 AM
RELIGIOUS leaders have defended their involvement in the Kasubi tombs prayers last week, which had been criticised by some Christians for the site’s association with ancestral worship.
By Ben Okiror
RELIGIOUS leaders have defended their involvement in the Kasubi tombs prayers last week, which had been criticised by some Christians for the site’s association with ancestral worship.
The prayers were led by Archbishop Cyprian Lwanga of the Kampala Catholic Archdiocese, who was wearing a bark cloth sash for the occasion.
He was joined by leaders of the Anglican, Pentecostal and Orthodox Churches as well as the Muslim faith.
Namirembe diocese Bishop Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira represented the Anglican Church.
Jonah Lwanga attended on behalf of the Orthodox Church in Uganda, while Zubair Kayongo of the Kibuli faction represented the Muslim community. Apostle Alex Mitala, represented Born-Again churches.
The religious leaders argued that they were only there to mourn with the Baganda and did not get involved in witchcraft. Pastors of some Born-again churches had objected to the presence of Christian leaders at the event.
Michael George Kizito, the president of the Watchman Africa Discernment Ministry, argued that Christians should not associate themselves with the tombs, a place where witchdoctors used to go to renew their powers..
The burning of the tombs was unacceptable, wrote Kizito in The New Vision yesterday. However, there is no way a true Christian can pray to God to rebuild a temple where satanic rituals, such as devil invocation, pipe smoking, ancestral possession, fire altars, ritual cleansing and worship of the dead are practised.
Pastor Anthony Owalu of Hope Restoration Ministries, while also condemning the burning of the tombs, said it was wrong for the religious leaders to pray at the Kasubi site. They should have called for a prayer elsewhere and consecrate that place (Kasubi) to God. I would not want to be associated with such a place as a religious leader because of the traditional rituals that are being practiced there.
Archbishop Lwanga has rejected the accusations, saying his critics were uninformed. He said Jesus Christ asked his apostles to spread the gospel to anybody without boundaries.
He cited Apostle Paul’s visit to Athens where he explained to idol-worshippers that the unknown god was actually the Almighty God.
We were there for a good purpose and nothing about witchcraft was mentioned, Lwanga said. We have bishops buried in the church compound, is that witchcraft? Ignorance prompts people to make such sweeping statements.
Sheikh Hassan Kirya, the spokesperson for Kayongo, said they were there to pray for Kabaka Mutesa I since he was the first Muganda to embrace Islam. Islam teaches us to pray for the dead and because Mutesa I did a lot to spread Islam, he is more important to us than anyone else, Kirya said.
He explained that a Koran and the kettle used during the king’s ablution were lying on his tomb, according to the Islamic tradition. The mosque in Kasubi was the first in Uganda, built in the 1880s,he noted.
He added that the Muslims who went for the Kasubi tombs prayers were not part of witchcraft or the rituals performed that day.
Pastor Martin Sempa of the Makerere Community Church said he was there to ask God to extinguish the fires in grieving people’s hearts that were ignited by strife.
He agreed that there were some unchristian cultural practices by the kingdom but these were changing because of the church’s involvement. The policy of disengagement is abdication of our responsibility as religious leaders, Sempa said. Even the Bible teaches to mourn with those who mourn. A family is a family and if the behaviour of some members may be unworthy, it does not mean you don’t attend family functions.
The retired Anglican bishop of Mityana, Dunstan Bukenya, said the event was of critical nature and those who denounced the prayers were wrong. He said Kasubi was a burial place like any other. If a night dancer went to a grave, it would not stop other people from visiting it.
However, his successor, Stephen Kazimba, who did not go to Kasubi because of other commitments, said he would have first established what would take place to ensure it did not conflict with his faith.
Kazimba last year led a team of two other Anglican bishops and five clergy members to destroy a traditional shrine in a village in Mityana after the owner repented.
He however absolved his colleagues who went to Kasubi, saying they could have gone to show solidarity with the mourners without knowing what else was taking place there.
The Buganda kingdom’s deputy information minister, Medard Lubega, acknowledged that certain cultural practices took place at the Kasubi Tombs.
However, he said, any rituals performed were exclusively the business of those concerned.
I am a Christian who lives among people of different religions but I do not take offence at their practices, he noted
Church leaders are encouraged to go where satanic practices are performed to preach the gospel, he added.
He called the discussion diversionary and reiterated Mengo’s call for an independent probe into the cause of the fire.
Our concentration is on investigating who exactly burnt the tombs.
