Parliament eulogises the late Archbishop Lwanga
Parliament has passed a motion to pay tribute to the late Archbishop of the Orthodox Church of Uganda, Jonah Lwanga, who passed away two weeks ago in Greece.
The motion was moved by the 3rd Deputy Prime Minister, Rukia Nakadama, praising the late for his remarkable contribution to both evangelization and development.
She applauded Lwanga for having constructed faith based schools, health facilities and churches across the country. “Under Archbishop Lwanga's stewardship, over 20 medical facilities and a hospital were established in Uganda, as well as an Orthodox Mother’s Union to address poverty, hunger and illiteracy,” said Nakadama.
Legislators extolled Lwanga for fighting injustice, human rights violations and corruption.
“Lwanga spoke strongly against corruption. Even when he was approached in the middle of campaigns with an envelope, he rejected it,” said Theodore Ssekikubo (NRM, Lwemiyaga).
Many admired Lwanga’s humility and simplicity on hearing that he lived a non-luxurious life to the point of owning only two pairs of shoes.
“He was the only Archbishop with two pairs of shoes. Whenever people would donate to him shoes, he would give them out. He had no bank account to his name yet he had all the means to amass wealth,” added Ssekikubo.
Rubaga North MP, Abubaker Kawalya, commended the late Archbishop for championing community policing in Namungona, a Kampala suburb, which he said has greatly improved security in the surrounding areas.
Kawalya requested government to take up the work the prelate started by completing construction of the first Orthodox cathedral in Uganda.
The Vice President, Jessica Alupo, who was at the lead of the Archbishop’s burial preparations, said the country has lost an illustrious crusader of peace, thanking him for founding the Inter-Religious Council; an entity charged with forging harmony amongst diverse religious sects.
A section of legislators said Lwanga was among the few religious leaders who boldly stood up against slip-ups by some government leaders, a practice MPs said is slowly dying.
“Lwanga dared to speak up against injustices and human rights abuse. We salute him for bravery while speaking on things which others could not,” said Aisha Kabanda (NUP, Butambala Woman MP).
Lwanga died at the age of 76 and was laid to rest on Monday, 20 September 2021, at St Nicholas Cathedral Namungoona.