Ugandan bishops have attacked Members of Parliament and other leaders for losing touch with the people, reports Alfred Wasike.
At the close of its three-day annual conference, the 39-year old Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC), identified 14 "key areas of concern" in which they said the legislators had lost contact with the people they purport to represent.
The bishops were drawn from the the Orthodox, the Roman Catholic and the Anglican churches.
The prelates rapped the Government for lack of "clear policies to promote accountability and transparency."
They said corruption in government and public life "needs to be addressed with a greater sense of urgency."
Addressing a news conference at the end of the UJCC plenary, Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala said, "Parliament should listen and focus on the concerns and aspirations of the grassroots. We are concerned that our leaders are losing touch with the people they say they represent. This is worrying us."
"The church is very concerned that Parliament and other leaders in our country are losing touch with society. Our leaders should be more vigilant. This is our attempt to put them back on course," Wamala said.
The UJCC executive secretary, the Rev. Canon Grace Kaiso, and the Rev Charles Odurkami from Lango Diocese, were present. More than 100 bishops under the ecumenical umbrella of the UJCC met under the theme: "Back to the Centre. The Role of the Church in Society" at the Pope Paul Memorial Community Centre in Kampala
.Church of Uganda archbishop Livingstone Nkoyooyo was present.
Launching a 27-page UJCC human rights educational manual to be used by the UJCC Joint Action Committees (JACs) to promote human rights awareness, Wamala said, "Our people need to be educated about human rights. Our people should enjoy equal rights."
Launching the UJCC website, the UJCC chairperson, Orthodox Church Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga announced, "We have decided to modernise. Our address on the internet is www.mailfuture.com/ujcc."
Kaiso said, "We are concerned that our people are ignorant about political space. We have decided to go out and teach our people. We are working on a detailed response to the Political Organisation's Bill. There are areas of concern."
"There are indications that there is discontent. It is not proper that the UJCC keeps quiet about this and other issues affecting our people. We have decided to take seriously all issues that impact on the quality of our people whether it is political, economic, social or other," he said as Wamala nodded.
The UJCC called for the "Promotion of the principle of respect for human rights and freedom."
They condemned mob justice and called for the "respect for constitutionalism and the rule of law."
The prelates condemned international terrorists and Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) for violating human rights.
"The church has tried to talk to Kony in the past. But we are very concerned that he has not stopped violating human rights."
The bishops condemned what they called promotion of immorality by the media. Wamala said, "It is alarming that we are importing millions of condoms for our people. It is unfortunate."