Bishop Zac Ruzaaza Niringiye on his Facebook post dismisses Uganda’s Heroes Day with contempt, demonizing dignitaries and all those grateful citizens, veterans and their loved ones; the liberated and liberators  who attended and indeed celebrated the day (see -http://www.facebook.com/dzac.ruzaaza?hc_location=timeline).

In his Facebook comment, he says that Heroes day re-enacted a sad narrative of Uganda’s history! What did he really mean by Uganda’s sad history? True, Uganda has had a sad history - a history we are consistently recovering from. Bishop Zac, with deliberate intent, tends to insinuate that President Museveni is responsible for Uganda’s sad history- really? Is President Museveni responsible for the chilling havoc caused by former President Milton Obote or rather the worst dictator of global proportions - Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada whose ideology sought to subjugate, humiliate, and exterminate?

In 1986, President Museveni and his team of liberators found everything from economy, security, social and political liberties six feet under. Deep in the soil. They worked to bring these to the surface (recovery). Heroes and liberators remind us, and especially the young generation – that our future is not shaped by mere chance or circumstance- but rather by a sum of hard choices and action. We must carry the legacy of selflessness and service forward. Should such Heroes be demonized or revered and appreciated?

It is a patriotic practice in all civilized democracies to remember and celebrate those who sacrificed – put their lives on wire, shed blood for objectives bigger than their being. For example, every year, Americans remember those who lost their lives on 9/11 when the world Trade Center smoldered down to ashes. USA presidents, British and Canadian leaders continue to visit Normandy, France to pay homage and pray for heroes who were massacred during the second world war – 69 years ago (D-Day anniversary). Scandinavian countries continue to praise their Vikings heroes. It is uncouth to dance on the graves of those who fought to liberate this land. It is even heinous for one to fail to appreciate and revere those who against all odds made it out of the jungles – for us.

For Bishop Zac Niringiye to say that ‘most Ugandan’s live on the edge- and simply surviving and therefore such celebrations don’t make sense for them’ is an act of dishonesty, revisionism, a lie and unreasoned generalization. If by ‘simply surviving on the edge’ Bishop Zac- meant that majority Ugandans are poor – then he has some crosschecking to do. Poverty in Uganda is reducing at a rate faster than our sister countries in Eastern Africa. According to the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) Global Monitoring Report 2013, Kenya’s poverty headcount stands at 43.37 per cent against Uganda’s 38.01 per cent using the poverty cut-off point of $1.25 per person. Tanzania stands at 67.87 per cent; Rwanda at 63.17 per cent while in Burundi it is at 81.32 per cent. The poverty level scoring was based on the number of people living below $1.25 a day. Previous studies have used $1 daily but that has since been replaced with the higher amount.

If these statistics were published by a Ugandan agency, the likes of Bishop Zac would claim that they are cooked and President Museveni bribed the agencies! Yes, 38.1% are still poor – this is a challenge we must all work together to reverse. I would be glad if the Bishop was articulating alternative views or inviting a dialogue on how to push poverty levels to zero.

Remember, it is un-elucidated statements like the foregoing that made politicians like Dr.Kizza Warren Besigye and Dr. Abed Bwanika lose the little shine they had with people of Uganda. Ugandans looked at their rants as hate speech and angry salvos devoid of concrete evidence based policy options that Ugandans care about.

Ugandans are awake and no one should abuse their ingenuity.  I would want to know the position of Bishop Zac Niringiye on important and contentious bills that are being debated in Uganda Parliament. What is his position on the Biosafety and Biotechnology Bill? What is his position on the Marriage and divorce bill? What is his position on the Anti -Homosexuality bill?

By Morrison Rwakakamba
Public Policy Analyst
[email protected]