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Anti-graft protest: Inter-Religious Council calls for dialogue
Dr Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, the chairperson of the Council of Presidents.
What you need to know:
- The Council also emphasised the need for the government to listen to the population and address their needs.
The Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) has called on young people to prioritise dialogue with the government to address their grievances.
The Council’s top leadership made the remarks during an afternoon press briefing at their headquarters in Mengo, Kampala, on Monday.
“IRCU believes in creating spaces for dialogue and building consensus. And this is a role we have done before and continue to play. We urge all those with issues of concern particularly the youth to adopt peaceful and constructive dialogue as a means of conflict resolution,’’ Dr Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, the chairperson of the Council of Presidents, said in a statement read by the Archbishop of the Orthodox Church in Uganda, Jeronymos Muzeeyi.
The Council also emphasised the need for the government to listen to the population and address their needs.
“We also feel the need for a more holistic approach to addressing the aches and pains that are being felt by the different constituencies, including, the children, women, the elderly, people with disabilities, farmers, business people, doctors, teachers, among others,’’ the council said.
“This should be done within the spirit of our national motto: For God and My Country that is, being guided by the values of justice and shared well-being, and devoid of political party, ethnic, religious interests and elements of foreign interests prioritising the common good,’’ the added.
However, organisers of the protest and many young people using social media, amid threats from the police and the President, vowed that they would proceed to have protest because the past interventions have failed to tame the increasing vice of corruption.
In their letter to the Inspector General of police, the leaders of the demonstration said they notified the police under Section 5 of the Public Order Management Act, 2013 (POMA), which requires an organiser of a public meeting to inform an authorised officer of the intention to hold a public meeting.
The march is expected to start from 8am to 6pm, the action involving assembly at Railway Grounds in Kampala for speeches followed by march to Parliament.
