X-mas: Kaziimba preaches hope

As Christmas Day draws closer, Church of Uganda Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu has preached hope in the face of a deadly pandemic that has so far killed more than 3,200 people in Uganda.
The archbishop’s message to believers ahead of the Christmas celebrations this Saturday, came at a time when many people are struggling to rebuild their lives after two years of Covid-19- induced distress.
The archbishop emphasised the need for Christians to have hope and reiterated that “life has been difficult for everyone this year.”

“We have faced many challenges this year and might even think of some of them as afflictions,” Archbishop Kaziimba said yesterday during a morning press briefing at his residence in Namirembe, a Kampala City suburb.
The archbishop announced that the theme for the Church of Uganda for the year 2022 will be ‘Hope Beyond Affliction’.
The archbishop said: “Let this be the year when you acknowledge that it is only Jesus who can bring you hope beyond affliction.”
The Covid-19 pandemic was first declared in Uganda in March, 2020, which marked the start of uncertainty in the country.

The pandemic, according to the archbishop, escalated gender-based violence (GBV) in families and cases of teenage pregnancies. To this effect, the archbishop asked the affected girls to forgive the boys and men behind these actions.
Ahead of schools’ reopening, he called for counselling programmes for learners, teachers and more mentorship programmes for the boy-child.
On the recent terrorist attacks, the archbishop called on everyone to be vigilant, especially during this festive season.

Former prime minister Amama Mbabazi said he had previously proposed to the government to have a legislation passed in Parliament to ensure certain categories of people are vaccinated.
“This is very critical, for instance, a waiter who is infected with Covid-19 interacting with many people. Can you imagine how many people he will infect in one day or a month?” he wondered.