Holy See will not participate in Board of Peace- Cardinal Parolin Reveals

VATICAN 

 By Alessandro Guarasci – Rome

Cardinal Pietro Parolin with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the ceremony marking the anniversary of the Lateran Pacts at Palazzo Borromeo.  (@VATICAN MEDIA)

The Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace because of its particular nature, which is evidently not that of other States,” stated Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, on the sidelines of the bilateral meeting in Rome with the Italian Government at Palazzo Borromeo, seat of the Embassy of Italy to the Holy See, on the occasion of the anniversary of the signing of the Lateran Pacts.

The Holy See “will not participate in the Board of Peace because of its particular nature, which is evidently not that of other States.”

This is the position expressed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on the sidelines of the bilateral meeting in Rome with the Italian Government at Palazzo Borromeo, seat of the Embassy of Italy to the Holy See, on the occasion of the anniversary of the signing of the Lateran Pacts.

Also present at the meeting was the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella.

Important to provide a response

In response to journalists’ questions about Italy’s participation as an observer in the Board of Peace, Cardinal Parolin pointed out that “there are points that leave us somewhat perplexed. There are some critical points that would need to find explanations.

The important thing,” the Cardinal added, “is that an attempt is being made to provide a response. However, for us there are certain critical issues that should be resolved.”

“One concern,” the Vatican Secretary of State explained, “is that at the international level it should above all be the UN that manages these crisis situations. This is one of the points on which we have insisted.”

Pessimism regarding Ukraine

The Vatican Secretary of State also expressed concern regarding the war in Ukraine, a few days before the fourth anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict. This has been an anniversary that is also accompanied by heavy bombardments against energy infrastructure in Kyiv and in other cities.

"Regarding Ukraine," according to the Cardinal, “there is considerable pessimism. On both sides it does not seem to us that there are real advances regarding peace, and it is tragic that after four years, we still find ourselves at this point… One hopes that these dialogues may produce some progress, but it seems to me that there is not much hope and not many expectations.”

Gratitude to Italy for attention to issues close to the Church’s heart

Cardinal Parolin also spoke of good relations with the Government in Rome.

He emphasized that during the bilateral meeting “there was above all an expression of thanks” on the part of the Holy See for the attention that the Government has given to many issues that are close to the Church’s heart."

Among the issues, the Cardinal cited, were "of a social nature, matters such as measures and provisions for the family, the issue of education, the issue of disability, the issue of prisons. Issues on which there are working groups that concern more directly the CEI [Italian Bishops' Conference] and on which progress has been made.

ACCPU Commits to Journey with Entire Church to Attain Ecological Conversion

 by Valerian Kkonde

ACCPU

 

Responding to the Cry of the Earth is a call to protect our common home for the well-being of all living creatures as we equitably address the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and ecological sustainability. Photo by Valerian Kkonde/ ACCPU

 

As Pope Francis’ landmark Encyclical - Laudato Si’- continues to inspire the world to take concrete actions to care for our common home, the Association of Catholic Communication Practitioners in Uganda (ACCPU) has decided to journey with the entire Catholic Church to devise means of attaining ecological conversion.

 

ACCPU made this commitment by enrolling with Laudato Si’ Action Platform on December 20, 2025. The Laudato Si’ Action Platform is the fruit of a unique collaboration between the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, nearly 200 Catholic organizations, and individuals from around the world.

 

This collaboration aims at accomplishing the mission of implementing Catholic teaching about caring for the environment. Laudato Si’ Action Platform prompts us to ponder essential questions like: How do we navigate conversations on environmental stewardship with those who view the world differently? How can I incorporate prayer into my sustainability practice? Where do I begin if I want to make a change?

 

In the Laudato Si’ Action Platform Annual Report 2025, H.E. Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J. the Prefect, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development called upon the faithful to remain focused on the journey to care for our common home.

 

“Let us continue walking together in faith. The Platform’s quiet strength lies in its resilience and adaptability to work in loving partnership to promote ecological conversion through attentive listening, sharing, and determined action, despite many global and local crises and challenges. These commitments go far beyond mere symbolic gestures—they are signs of a Church alive, credible, and courageous.”

                                                 _________________________________

                                                                                               

“I would like to invite everyone to tackle this journey together…Only in this way we will be able to create the future we want: a more inclusive, fraternal, peaceful, and sustainable world.” -Pope Francis in Laudato Si’

 

                                                     _______________________________

On her part, Sr. Alessandro Smerilli F.M.A. urged the people to “continue this pilgrimage, listening to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor, as we put the Gospel into action with courage and grace in every corner of the world.”

 

Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, is Secretary, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

 

ACCPU brings together individuals and groups of Catholic communicators in Uganda with a Vision of a united fraternity of Catholic communicators living and promoting Catholic values. Our Mission is to unite Catholic communication practitioners in Uganda for the promotion of evangelisation and integral human development.

 

ACCPU’s active members write, produce, manage and distribute media content in all forms. Members include both those working with the Catholic Church -founded media institutions and those working in the secular media. As Catholic communicators, the media of social communication, in all its expressions, is used for the glory of God and peace to all humanity.

 

 

Improving guardianship of natural areas is crucial to safeguarding Earth's ecosystems. Climate change is an increasingly serious driver of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.  Photo by Valerian Kkonde/ ACCPU

 

In this Encyclical, Pope Francis warns against the exploitation and destruction of the environment and invites every citizen of the world to view the environment as "a collective good, the heritage of all humanity, and the responsibility of all." Touched by this invitation, ACCPU took a decision to use the means of social communication, at our disposal, to respond to the ecological crisis.

 

The Laudato Si’ Action Platform has seven Goals which guide the actions of members. These include: response to the cry of the earth, response to the cry of the poor, ecological economics and adoption of sustainable lifestyles. Others are ecological education, ecological spirituality and community resilience and empowerment. These Goals call for a spiritual and cultural revolution to realize integral ecology.

 

A new Certificate of Commitment has been introduced to honour those institutions —parishes, schools, dioceses, and religious communities—“that persevere, in love and action, as living witnesses of care for our common home.”

 

The Association of Catholic Communication Practitioners in Uganda has decided to embark on fundraising for funds to be able to implement its plan. ACCPU plans to hold trainings for Catholic communicators on reporting about climate change so that they are equipped with knowledge and skills to open discussions with their audiences on this critical global challenge.

 

The trainings will be held on the Ecclesiastical Province level and twenty five communicators will be trained in every Province. We have four Ecclesiastical Provinces in Uganda. This will lead to a network of one hundred communicators equipped to address the ecological crisis in light of Laudato Si’ and the teaching of the Church. Equipped to combat climate change across the country, they will acquire a deeply felt duty to inform their audiences about a shift that is already overturning their lives.

 

 The communicators will also be able to hold government and other powerful actors to account. They will as well enable Christian communities know that we have a responsibility toward creation, and must assert this responsibility in the public sphere as well as in our daily lifestyle.

Given the prevailing circumstances, with many climate deniers and misuse of the media, it is crucial to provide correct information about Climate Change so as to counter mis/disinformation and indifference.

 

Most importantly, Catholic communicators will be guided on the Encyclical Laudato Si’ so that they can understand, appreciate its spirit and live it.

 

ACCPU will as well put in place an online magazine or platform. This will not only be a platform for our stories on climate change but will enable ACCPU to put to the fore front the Catholic Church’s teachings and social doctrine on the matters of environmental justice and the common good.

 

We further intend to bring on board radio programs depending on the availability of funds. Radio was the first social network.  Now, we plan to use social media to deepen audience relationships. We plan to increase engagement on-air and online, building loyalty and getting more people to listen for longer. Social media converts followers into listeners.

 

Social media plays a vital role in transforming people’s life styles. It has many positive implications, including promoting awareness of specific causes, advertising businesses and helping foster friendships between individuals who may have never met without social networking.

 

Laudato Si’ Action Platform Goals that speak to us most include: response to the cry of the earth, response to the cry of the poor, adoption of sustainable lifestyles, ecological education and community resilience and empowerment.

 

 

 

Witness to Martyrdom. It was under this tree in Munyonyo, in 1886, that the decision to sentence the future Uganda Martyrs to death was made. Photo by Valerian Kkonde/ ACCPU

The state of the environment in Uganda meets the urgent call for action made by Pope Francis. It requires a concerted effort to implement the desired action for change. It is with this in mind that the Association of Catholic Communication Practitioners in Uganda has decided to organize trainings for Catholic communicators to ensure that they appropriately respond the environmental crisis.

 

Uganda has mostly a tropical climate characterised by stable rainfall patterns. However, the effects of climate change have turned the seasons around with the country experiencing shorter or longer rains and harsher droughts- especially in the Eastern and North-Eastern Uganda.

 

According to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), Uganda has experienced a significant decline in forest cover, with encroachment for agriculture, wood fuel, production, and other development pressures contributing to this loss.  The country is experiencing the effects of climate change, including changing rainfall patterns, increased droughts, and extreme weather events, impacting livelihoods and ecosystems.

 

The unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, including land and water, is leading to degradation and reduced ecosystem services. Environmental degradation is impacting the ability of ecosystems to provide essential services, contributing to poverty and hindering sustainable development.

 

NEMA also affirms that the state of our environment will determine the level of our prosperity now and for future generations. Over-exploitation of our natural resources is increasingly leading to environmental degradation and contributing to reduced ecosystem services and disasters. Reduced ecosystem services in turn contribute to poverty.

                                      _______________________________

 

“As stewards of God’s creation, we are called to act swiftly, with faith and prophecy, to protect the gift He entrusted to us”. Pope Leo XIV

 

                                         ______________________________

 

NEMA is the principal agency responsible for environmental management, coordinating, monitoring, and supervising all activities related to the environment. They also play a key role in developing environmental policies, laws, regulations, and standards, guiding the government on sound environmental practices. 

 

Raising public awareness about environmental issues and promoting responsible environmental practices is crucial for achieving sustainable development. This is what ACCPU intends to do through this project to ensure that its members commit to act and to take personal and collective care.

 

Teaching on creation, ecology, and the poor are grounded in the Church’s deep history. In recent years St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and especially Pope Francis, have added a sense of urgency to their call for Catholics to act on climate change. This is how we have planned our response to the call to care for creation and care for the poor.

Museveni’s 40 Year- Rule is the Genuine Manifesto worth the Scrutiny - Part II

 by Valerian Kkonde

Pearl News Service

 

National Unity Platform Presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu- also known as Bobi Wine- runs his campaigns on a promise of a new Uganda where rule of law and respect for human dignity prevail

 As demand for regime change intensifies, Museveni has been forced to drop all pretense at good governance and turn to the Museveni Protection Agencies to secure his hold on power. The army’s takeover of the electoral commission powers and the targeting of civilians all point to this desperation. So is the Buganda for Museveni Campaign.

 

The Buganda for Museveni campaign is NRM’s bid to reclaim mass support in the Buganda region. Buganda bore the greatest brunt of the guerrilla war that catapulted Museveni and cohorts to state power. Lives, livelihoods and properties were lost. But forty years later, all Buganda has to show is economic oppression, systematic environmental destruction and evil schemes to undermine the kingdom progress and pride.

 

As the guerrilla war came to the close, there was a quiet and systematic elimination of people from Buganda. They were seen as a threat much as they had played crucial roles in the success of the struggle. To this day key Baganda whether civilian or military, continue to disappear under suspicious circumstances which have come to be known as the “hand of the poisonous cup.”

 

To the chagrin of many, forty years later the region stands in shambles but regime puppets expect Buganda to be grateful any way. And there seems to be a deliberate plan to keep the region lagging behind, save for the extraordinary vigour of the Buganda government to be on top of the situation- “Buganda ku ntikko.”

 

Rosemary Namayanja, the deputy secretary general of NRM does not hide her disappointment with Buganda’s insistence that the NRM is plotting evil. For Namayanja, it is Museveni who single handedly restored the traditional institutions after their abolition by Milton Obote. Buganda maintains that the institution of the Kabaka was never a gift from Museveni but the outcome of their own blood.

 

The deputy secretary general of NRM is aware of the hostility towards the name Buganda that her party continues to display. In the first place, they claim that Kampala is not part of Buganda. NRM does not want the Buganda region to appear on the map and dictate that “Central region” be used to refer to Buganda! Why all this effort not be spent on poverty eradication?

 

Museveni has, unsuccessfully, tried to set up parallel unheard of traditional institutions simply to antagonize Buganda’s pride and destabilise the development programs being pursued. Indeed Museveni’s hatred saw the coming up of tittles like the Ssabanyala, Ssabaruli and Mwogezibutamanya. He even set up alternative traditional leaders in Kooki county.

 

The logical response to these maneuvers still remains: why does Museveni’s exceptional love for traditional institutions not extend to the Ankole kingdom which he has denied the opportunity to see the light of day?

 

The 2021 general elections were the climax of peoples’ anger and the explosion of the dynamite ignited by oppression, injustice and humiliation. The predatory NRM is horrible than Obote and is not working for Ugandans. People are paid peanuts and, coupled with the broken health and education systems, the result is unprecedented desire for regime change.

 

Government is occupying a number of the Buganda government facilities but paying occupation fees for these facilities often takes years in a deliberate attempt to starve the Kingdom of the finances to offer services to the people. Government owes Buganda kingdom at least 500 billion shillings!

 

The intended suffocation of the Kingdom has miraculously transformed it into a success story through the contributions of the people. With these meagre funds, education, health, agriculture, sustainable use of the environment and moral rehabilitation have been raised to standards that starkly compare with Museveni’s government policy prioritisation. The political will has been scrutinised and found lacking.

 

The robbery of 10 trillion shillings every year of tax-payer money will certainly triple when the oil taps begin to flow. At least 7 trillion shillings is expected every year from Uganda’s oil.

Among the most widely spoken languages in Uganda, Luganda comes first. Numerous novels and text books have also been written in Luganda and it is being taught even outside the Buganda region. But the Museveni government has not pretended about its love for the suffocation of the Luganda language.

 

When the Odoki commission was created to help establish the system of governance that the country preferred, it was evident that the whole country preferred federalism. In Buganda alone, over 80% categorically called for federalism. Museveni instead came up with a foreign and artificial system called decentralization. This too could not be allowed to fully function because it denied him the absolute power he yearns for.

Buganda region has 105 slots for members of parliament. With a population of 11,171,924 according to the National Population and Housing Census of 2024, each MP represents 106,399 people. Wakiso district has a population of 3,411,177 people while the Ankole sub region, with thirteen districts, has a population of 3,608,968. This alone reveals the deliberate policy to deny Buganda region appropriate representation at policy formation and decision-making level.

Nansana municipality has a population of 609,021. Kira municipality has a population of 396,189. But in the region where the rulers come from, the districts of Kiruhura has 203,502, Mbarara has 174,039 and Rwampara boasts of 162,967 people! Not counties or subcounties but districts.

There is nothing new that Museveni is capable of doing after forty years in power. Nothing. All Museveni can do is to keep promising that better days are ahead but none will surely be on the table. This is where the trouble begins; he clings on power while the country demands for change and better service delivery. In the long run he becomes melancholic, brutal and very insecure. He will hit at whatever dares cross his path.

Gen. Muhozi Kainerugaba with South Sudan President Salva Kiir

 Security agencies have turned into state-terror machines with their only preoccupation being entrenching Museveni in state power. Many regimes in Africa and the world over have trodden this path but with dire consequences. But Museveni and cohorts deceive themselves that they are very wise, have a lot of money to buy off any opposition and also have all the guns they need to keep themselves securely in power.

The old man with a hat unashamedly told the world that his soldiers each has 120 bullets. Such reckless and desperate statements have always preceded genocidal acts as in Rwanda, Sudan, Burundi and unfortunately Tanzania of recent.

By 1980 Luweero was Buganda’s economic backbone: numerous heads of cattle, coffee plantations and prosperity all over the region. All this was lost during the guerrilla war that brought Museveni to State Power. But forty years later, he has deliberately left the area in shambles.

Luweero can only boast of having borne the brunt of war and lost all in the name of bringing an end to primitive and savage regimes. In terms of sustainable development one needs a magnifying glass in order to the see the gains. The pineapples and mangoes that abound have not stirred the old man with a hat to bring a juice processing plant for the farmers. Even the roads, similar to sweet potatoes gardens, the broken and rotten health and education systems cannot move the rulers to act. All the hope and expectations that steered the armed struggle are long buried in the mass graves that adorn the triangle.

As if these are no insult enough, Museveni has refused to compensate the people for all they lost. Instead they are being forcefully displaced from their land by those with powerful connections to state power. As if to tell them that they are mere condoms!

Could this explain why, many factories in Luweero are constructed in wetlands? With ecosystems and surrounding environments destroyed, fauna and flora lost, the beauty of life in this area is forgotten once and for all. And when life becomes unbearable, what else is left for the inhabitants to be proud of? Nothing. Is it the yellow t-shits and caps and the empty promises that they should treasure instead?

 

After forty years in power does it even make sense for Museveni to go to the people of Luweero and make promises or give excuses? Does it make sense to vote for such people and whatever they represent? For how long do people have to wait for service delivery, sustainable peace and development?

 

It is only someone with mental challenges who can be surprised with the discontent with Museveni’s rule in Buganda. People are simply confronting injustices with courage.

 

On 18 and 19 November 2020 at least 50 people were summarily killed during presidential and parliamentary campaigns. Instead of compensating the victims, many more are being abducted, tortured and imprisoned without trial. Others have disappeared without trace for opposing the establishment! No different from Obote and Amin regimes.  

 

Claims of peace without justice are nonsense to say the least. You grab our land, deliberately make us poor, kill the institutions that would have worked for us and even rob us of the hard earned shillings and you have the guts to tell us that you are protecting the gains attained! This is a way of saying that you want to squeeze the few drops of sap remaining in us; meaning you are after our own life.

 

Museveni is not working for the common good. The flooding of the buildings in the business district, on October 31^st 2025, clearly brought out the greed, arrogance and insensitiveness of Museveni and cohorts. And to show they don’t care, the old man with the hat said that the illegal construction must continue. The sham investors like Ham and the rest are not making any positive contribution to the country; they are mere fronts being used by those in power to siphon the resources of the country. By now many have seen the determination to strike the oppressive blow as hard as it can hit. Accumulation of obscene wealth has to go on.

 

One year ago, people lost their lives and properties in Kiteezi due to the rampant robbery of public funds and resources. But nothing has been done to address the situation. This is one instance of turning Ugandans into refugees in their own country. Museveni and cohorts call it the peace that they brought.

 

Very unfortunate for Museveni, even those who would have brought that moral teaching, that moral voice into the regime have long given up or taken to feathering their nests. They have become complacent, grown comfortable with the status quo, whilst ignoring the call for justice, peace and reconciliation, which are the foundation for upholding the common good.

 

Forty years later it has been revealed that Museveni was just an imposter and opportunist who simply wanted a go at the presidency but did not wish the country well. He grabbed the presidency with a gun, has used the gun to remain in power and rather sees the country up in flames than let go the state power in a civilised exercise like voting.

 

As of June 2025, Uganda's public debt was UGX 116.2 trillion, representing 51.3% of its GDP. This figure consists of UGX 60.3 trillion in domestic debt and UGX 55.9 trillion in external debt. The total debt keeps increasing significantly from the previous year due to new borrowing to support the budget and the so called development programs. 

 

The 40 years of Museveni’s rule offer the best standard for weighing the true character of a man who wants to pass off as a patriot and freedom fighter. The forty-year rule has exposed a man who is ready to do anything to hold to power. The situation in which Uganda finds herself today is dire although many of the signs are not being given the attention they deserve.

 

The environmental degradation that the country is going through is one sign that is warning of dangerous times ahead. The forest cover is perishing at a supersonic speed. Wetlands, water sources and all the natural beauties are vanishing and at the hand of state-led greed and wickedness! To all these add the land-grabbing, poverty and the crippling of institutions and the true picture is complete. For Museveni and cohorts that is peace. These are the gains Ugandans are invited to protect!

 

When Museveni keeps boasting that he brought peace to Uganda, one just has to look at the dehumanising poverty, rotten health systems and the lack of respect for human values and try to figure out what exactly he means. Can there be peace amidst statelessness that is being brought about by land-grabbing, abductions and torture of political opponents? Can there be peace amidst the replacing of institutions with himself? How about the nepotism, tribalism and impunity that characterises his rule?

 

The moral decadence being witnessed in Uganda under Museveni is enough for anyone, with a conscience, to refuse any form of attachment to this evil regime.

 

Museveni has put in place a system which criminalises innocent people. Many are abducted, tortured, jailed without trial, some have disappeared while others have been killed in cold blood. The survivors who are lucky to face a judge, their cases collapse for lack of evidence.

He is promoting a model that does not create the same opportunities for everyone. Ugandans have a duty to take a stand where human dignity is trampled. This has to be carried out consistently and boldly.

 

Fr. Deusdedit Ssekabira was abducted by the Museveni Protection Agencies in a manner similar to the dreaded regimes of Obote and Amin. How history repeats itself!

 The security agencies have long ceased to be so; they have been transformed into Museveni Protection Agencies. As such they are preoccupied with stifling human rights and freedoms that challenge Museveni’s continued grip on power.

 

Police and army are notorious for beating, torturing, abducting and killing members of the opposition. There is no doubt that all these are taking place because Museveni wants everything that way. The National Unity Platform presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu has been subjected to all forms of humiliation- his supporters as well- as he mounts pressure on the old man with a hat in the campaigns.

 

The NUP presidential candidate has even been barred from campaigning is areas like Gulu, Fort Portal and Kiruhura. The formidable opposition put up by NUP has forced Museveni to abandon his pretense at democracy and rule of law. Police and army have not only come out to campaign for him but they also ferry NRM supporters to campaign venues in their trucks. In Entebe and Kamunga, Lt. Col. Mercy Tukahirwa, the commander of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU), has even had the guts to intimidate voters with ruining their livelihoods if they do not vote for Museveni! Talk of absolute power.

 

Article 208 of the 1995 Constitution states that the UPDF shall be nonpartisan but many soldiers, after the Commander of the Defence Forces- Gen. Muhozi Kainerugaba- are openly campaigning for Museveni. Captain Isaac Mugalu is seen campaigning in Ziroobwe and stupidly refers to Museveni as the god of this country. Yes, Uganda has degenerated to such levels!  

 

Museveni has not only run out of options and ideas but has become the problem for Uganda. And because life is about solving problems, then Museveni should be voted out of power at the earliest opportunity available. This is the civilised option that the Uganda constitution provides for regime change, but other ways, like the one he used, cannot be ruled out either especially when he replaces institutions with himself.

 

The scars of the 40-year rule are predatory systems, absolute power, promotion of hatred, selfishness, intolerance, authoritarianism and lack of integrity.

 

Lt. Col. Mercy Tukahirwa. The indiscipline displayed by an officer at this rank is testimony to the arrogance, impunity and incompetence at the core of Uganda’s institutions under Museveni.

 

The much taunted “socio-economic transformation, bankruptcy of religious sectarianism, political balkanization, regional integration, wealth creation and the four-acre model” are some of the high sounding slogans that have characterised the 40-year rule. Museveni looks very proud of them. But they are mere grandiose slogans with nothing to prove in reality.

 

Museveni is dividing the country into irreconcilable factions wrongly thinking that he, his family and cohorts are best protected that way. Africa’s dictators often slip into that sort of dreaming only to wake up when it is too late.

 

The artificial peace that Museveni boasts about has come at the expense of fundamental rights, including private and family life, freedom of conscience and information, and the right to a fair trial.

 

Museveni’s greed, indifference, selfishness, and violence have shattered the dreams of peace, hope and prosperity of young people. As a result Uganda faces political disputes, violations of fundamental human rights, robbery of public funds and resources, and loss of trust among citizens. The more Museveni clings to power the more these wounds bleed.

 

Ssebudde Kassim one of the National Unity Platform supporters who have been abducted, tortured and seen again alive. Many are missing without trace.

The crises he promised to resolve have, 40 years later, instead become more pronounced and grounded in the life of Uganda. The indiscipline being displayed by the UPDF and other Museveni protection agencies, exemplified by the Commander in Chief and the Chief of Defence Forces, amount to the incitement of hatred and violence. This is deliberate sowing of anarchy and extrajudicial acts so as to cling to state power. This explains why Museveni is proud of a peace that comes at the expense of human dignity.

 

In the ongoing suffering, oppression, injustices and robberies Ugandans are seeking relief and are determined to secure the relief through the ballot box. Museveni and cohorts must not be deceived that this system is incapable of bringing about the much desired change where those who do not want the change have all sorts of guns and money. It is one thing to have the guns and another to have the support and blessings of the country.

 

 

          “Injustice against Comrade Ssebudde Kassim

After more than two weeks under incommunicado detention and torture, our comrade Ssebudde Kassim was driven to Namboole in the dead of the night and dumped near Namboole Stadium.

He was abducted alongside comrade Eddie Mutwe, who was separated from them a day later. His story is not different from that of other victims — he was severely tortured, and upon release, ordered not to speak about his ordeal, otherwise they would kill him.

The cowardly regime is doing all this to silence us, but our voices must get louder and our actions stronger.” NUP PRESIDENT’S Statement ON ABDUCTIONS OF PARTY MEMBERS

 

Apart from Museveni and cohorts chanting that “Buganda for Museveni” they have arrogantly done nothing to address the concerns of the people. Soon after the 2021 elections, Masaka witnessed numerous murders at the hands of panga-wielding goons. The best the government did was to tell the residents that the murders were the result of electing people from the opposition. That is all the Internal affairs minister, Gen. Kahinda Otafire did!

 

As Museveni desperately asks Ugandans to vote for him, one gets the impression that if he had utilised well his forty years in power, he would not be using all this energy and resources; the time he has spent in state house all these decades should be able to speak for him. There is no doubt that the manifesto, documentaries and all the songs and slogans put together cannot speak better to the voters than the deeds of the four decades.

 

 Does Museveni, at his age, need to be taught that change is a fact of life! Change comes at its own timing, in different ways and for different reasons. But above all, change is irresistible.

 

Catholic Church will not be a Silent Bystander amid Challenges to Peace - Pope Leo XIV

By Crux Staff

Dec 6, 2025

Pope Leo XIV receives Letters of Credence from ambassadors on Saturday, 6 Dec. 2025. Image © Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV promised on Saturday that the Holy See will not be a mere spectator to global affairs, especially regarding inequality, injustice, and questions of basic human rights.

“The Holy See will not be a silent bystander to the grave disparities, injustices and fundamental human rights violations in our human and global community, which is increasingly more fractured and conflict-prone.” Leo said.

The pope’s remarks came during an audience with ambassadors to the Holy See from Bahrain, Fiji, Finland, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Micronesia, Moldova, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Uzbekistan, who presented the pontiff with their Letters of Credence in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on Saturday morning.

“The Holy See’s diplomacy,” said the pontiff, “is consistently directed toward serving the good of humanity, especially by appealing to consciences and by remaining attentive to the voices of those who are poor, in vulnerable situations or pushed to the margins of society.”

The diplomatic efforts of the Holy See are “shaped by the values of the Gospel,” Leo said, and in particular by the desire for peace.

“Peace,” said the pope, recalling the very first words he spoke to the world as Leo XIV on the day of his election and his May 16, 2025 remarks to the whole corps of diplomats accredited to the Holy See, “is not merely the absence of conflict, but ‘an active and demanding gift,’ one that is ‘built in the heart and from the heart’.”

 

“The Holy See’s diplomacy is consistently directed toward serving the good of humanity, especially by appealing to consciences and by remaining attentive to the voices of those who are poor, in vulnerable situations or pushed to the margins of society.” –              Pope Leo XIV

 

“Peace calls each of us to renounce pride and vindictiveness and to resist the temptation to use words as weapons,” Leo said.

“This vision of peace has become all the more urgent,” Leo said, “as geopolitical tension and fragmentation continue to deepen in ways that burden nations and that strain the bonds of the human family.”

Leo expressed gladness at the chance to meet the new ambassadors in what are still the early days of his pontificate, and in the context of the Jubilee Year of Hope inaugurated by his predecessor, Pope Francis.

Leo quoted Francis’ Bull of Indiction for the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025, Spes non confundit – “Hope does not disappoint” – emphasizing the need to recover trust in our common institutions and in each other.

Leo said the Jubilee “calls everyone ‘to recover the confident trust that we require, in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation’.”

 

Museveni’s 40 Year- Rule is the Genuine Manifesto worth the Scrutiny- Part I

 

by Valerian Kkonde

Pearl News Service

President Yoweri Museveni after forty years in power is applying all sorts of means to cling to it. Are the past forty years the best way to gauge his uniqueness or failure to solve the crises he promised and used to justify his guerrilla war?

   When Yoweri Museveni was sworn in as President of Uganda in 1986, he gave the country a renewed hope for good governance, rule of law, peace and prosperity. This hope was hinged on the statement he emphasised that: “This is a fundamental change. It is not a mere change of guards.” Museveni kept rallying for local support with the promise of never witnessing the savage and primitive acts that brought a grim toll on our politics, economy and identity.

   The swearing-in was the result of a bloody five-year guerrilla war that rocked the country after the flawed, sham and contested 1980 elections. As one of the presidential candidates, on the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM) party ticket, Museveni must have had first- hand experience of the effect and impact of an election that is nowhere near being free and fair. He gave the impression of a person best placed to bring this to an end.

   On January 15, 2026 Ugandans will be voting for their next President and Members of Parliament. Yoweri Museveni is one of the eight candidates vying for the presidency on the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ticket. He will be clocking forty solid uninterrupted years as president!

   Forty years as president of Uganda is no mean achievement; he will be the first in the history of Uganda. But on the African continent other “great” men have accomplished this feat. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. In power since August 1979, he has ruled for over 46 years, making him the longest-serving current president in the world. Paul Biya of Cameroon has been president since November 1982. He has been in office for over 43 years.

  Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Central Republic of the Congo has ruled for a total of approximately 41 years across two separate periods (1979-1992 and 1997-present), allowing him to reach the 40-year mark. 

   Of great concern and interest, is not merely the number of years but the quality of those years. Has Uganda witnessed a fundamental change as regards good governance, rule of law, peace and prosperity? What I consider as the greatest achievement of the forty-year Museveni rule is the demystifying of a man who always, and continues to do, portrayed himself as the missing link in Uganda’s realisation of good governance, rule of law, peace and prosperity.

   If Museveni had died early in his presidency, many Ugandans would have mourned him as the greatest and the man who was to lead the country to the promised land. But equating politics to the beautiful 90-minute game of football, Museveni has played the 90 minutes and has no excuse, nothing new to offer to the coach and the team as a whole. It’s time out for him!

   At stake is good governance, rule of law, peace and prosperity. After forty years as president, what else new can Museveni claim to be able to offer to Ugandans? At least he is no different from the previous dictators he claimed he wanted to have their chapter closed, but at most he has been worse than them all.

   While African history is abundant with cases of modern-day demagogues who have ruled for over forty years it is devoid of success stories. All there is to show is anarchy, dehumanising poverty, politically aggravated murders of opponents and robbery of public funds and resources. These so called “great” men have mutilated their constitutions and have accumulated obscene wealth. They have as well excelled in human rights abuses.

   First accusation is that they have not led their countries to the status of developed nations. Characteristic of them all is dehumanising poverty and debts that have crippled their countries. Nothing meaningful has come out of the decades-long rule of these power-greedy men. Nothing at all. Overstaying in power has undoubtedly proved to be a curse to them and the countries.

   One of Uganda’s laughing stock is the 1995 Constitution which Museveni oversaw and has also turned into a state terror machine. Presidential term limits and age limits were literally mutilated like the Female Genital Mutilations among the Sabiny women. This is horrible! And once this was effected, all the dreams of a fundamental change were dashed. The constitution has been so trivialized that the order of the day is to go to bed in one constitution only to wake up in a new one!

   By the close of the 2024/25 Financial Year, Uganda’s debt stands at a whopping 116 trillion shillings! In the same period, the Inspector General of Government (IGG) disclosed that 10 trillion shillings is stolen every year! But that whenever the IGG tries to prosecute these thugs they hide in State House. This is frank speaking! The IGG then shuttered the mask when she called for a life-style audit of the newly rich.

   Typical of Africa’s demagogues who have outlived their usefulness and are driven by greed and wickedness, President Museveni ordered the IGG to back off because the money will then have to be invested outside the country! The Old Man with a hat has overstayed to the extent of replacing institutions with himself. For anything to have a semblance of going forward the Old Man has to physically be involved and he always dedicatedly honours the pleas of the people, for his magic hand, with a broad smile.

   In September 2005, donors agreed to write off US $ 3.7 billion of Uganda's foreign debt owed to institutions like the World Bank, IMF, and African Development Bank. The IMF and World Bank officially extended 100% debt relief to Uganda in December 2005 and June 2006, respectively, which effectively wiped out most of its remaining external debt to these institutions. 

   These cancellations were intended to redirect funds towards critical social services and infrastructure, such as education and health, to help the country achieve its Millennium Development Goals. But what is the state of education, health and the roads?

  One wonders what the situation would have been like today if the country had not received the write off of 2005.

   In 1987 among the steps taken to improve the economy was the devaluation of the Uganda shilling by 77 per cent. This is remembered as the removal of three zeros from the money every person owned.

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu also known as Bobi Wine is the presidential candidate on the National Unity Platform party. He is calling for a new Uganda where rule of law, justice, peace and respect for human  dignity are the norm.

   One reason for lack of meaningful financial transformation is the institutionalised robbery of public funds and resources. For an economy like the one for Uganda it is suicidal to allow it to be robbed of 10 trillion shillings a single year. Imagine what will happen when the oil taps begin to flow. At least seven trillion shillings is expected from the oil revenue every year. The extent of robberies being witnessed in the country simply confirm that oil in Uganda, like in other African countries, is a curse.  

   Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate Nandala Mafabi castigated the Electoral Commission for designating few days for the campaigns. Nandala says that the roads are in a dire state and they cannot connect to districts easily. At times they need a full day of travel to catch up on campaign program but they have proved to be bad miracles-workers so far.

   As Uganda continues to writhe under Museveni’s hazardously conceived policies, students have had to cope without teachers for the greater part of this third term. The strikes were the result of the decision to pay science teachers high salaries while the arts teachers were neglected. Even the doctors are faced with similar neglect, forcing many to flee the country for greener pastures. But remember, ten trillion shillings is stolen every year before a man with a hat who has been in power for forty years and is clinging on at all cost!

   The 40-year rule has shown how Museveni is so confident with the magic in his family that he has had to appoint his wife Janet Kataha as the Minister of Education and Sports. Their son Gen Muhozi Kainerugaba is the Commander of the Defence Forces.

   General Salim Saleh, the President’s younger brother is in charge of the billion shillings Poverty Alleviation project. He doubles as the Presidential Adviser on security. Other relatives too occupy key government positions to ably demonstrate the high level of commitment Museveni has to keep things moving. Feel free to call this nepotism, impunity, arrogance or whatever.

   And on many occasions Museveni has accused Ugandans of not being appreciative of what he has done to help them be president for forty years. Ugandans definitely are not happy about the family-rule system. To some, this is what it means to get drunk with power.

Senior Counsel Erias Lukwago is the Lord Mayor for Kampala. His unwavering demand for and defence of rule of law and human rights makes him a reliable partner in search for good governance.

    For majority Ugandans, the forty years of Museveni rule are synonymous with poverty, rotten health and education systems and oppression. Uganda’s educated and youthful generation is being wasted away in the Middle East in what is termed as modern day slavery.

   Nandala Mafabi painted a dramatic picture about Ugandan youth riding boda-boda (motorcycles used for transport). He said that the youth ride boda-boda which are worn out, putting on worn out trousers and the youth themselves are worn out.

   Land-grabbing is an evil that is synonymous with the Museveni rule. People are becoming refugees in their own country and losing their treasured identity. This evil is getting a lot of protection from the security agencies and further entrenches the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

   The continued toiling of Ugandans who do not reap the rewards of their sweat confirms that there is a policy problem and not a resource problem. It is only in Uganda where Chinese who came as investors are now accomplished hawkers like the hapless Ugandans. The tax regime is so hostile to Ugandans that even when they complain, it is the interests of foreigners that have to get the upper hand fueling rumours that the foreigners are mere fronts for the powerful politicians. Instead of investing here, they are siphoning the country of the meagre resources. The debate rages on whether to call them investors or leaches. 

   Museveni has publicly boasted that in his family, peasants ended with his parents. But he has not whispered to Ugandans the secret to his success. This has left many guessing that it is the state coffers that he is privy to that can explain the fundamental change the family has undergone.

   With 70% of the population engaged in agriculture, one would expect that this is the sector that would have received priority in the last forty years but it is not the case. The numerous poverty alleviation programmes that have characterised this regime have flatly failed to alleviate Ugandans from the clutches of dehumanising poverty. It is under Museveni that the country continues to witness the would-be beneficiaries of poverty alleviation programs becoming poorer and poorer, while those who head the programs become richer and richer.

   The Cooperative movement that was responsible for the thriving of the agricultural sector and the economy at large, were scrapped by Museveni after he had robbed them of their money to fund his guerrilla war. They were, and would still be the best today, the solution to the problems of poverty afflicting regions of the country. In the North there was the tobacco, in the East it was cotton and in Buganda it was coffee. It is the latter that managed to revive coffee-growing while the other regions compete for the trophy of the poorest region in this once pearl of Africa.

   In the true spirit of protecting the gains, Museveni constructed a coffee plant in Ntungamo worth over five billion shillings. This is a region that has nothing to do with growing coffee. Was this in the name of value addition or envy for Buganda’s successful contribution to the coffee sector? To this add the dissolving of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority which had teamed up with the Buganda kingdom to revive the growing of coffee in the kingdom. Today Uganda is ranked first in Africa, in coffee export and earned at least eight trillion shillings. Seventy percent of the Uganda coffee is grown in Buganda kingdom. Indeed Museveni’s rule is a policy catastrophe not a resource one.

   Ntoroko and Bundibugyo are the main cocoa- growing areas in Uganda; they contribute 70% of the crop grown in Uganda. Forty years later, the region wallows in dehumanising poverty as they continue to sell cocoa beans. But when one hears Museveni talk about value addition, from morning to evening, fears arise whether the old man is becoming a parrot!

   Warning humanity against the temptation of accumulating obscene wealth, Pope Francis (RIP) had this to say: “When people become self-centred and self-enclosed, their greed increases. The emptier a person’s heart is, the more he or she needs things to buy, own and consume. It becomes almost impossible to accept the limits imposed by reality. In this horizon, a genuine sense of the common good also disappears. As these attitudes become more widespread, social norms are respected only to the extent that they do not clash with personal needs.”

   Politics remains as the only viable option out of poverty under Museveni. But here too one has to be a staunch supporter of the Old Man with a hat. Actions clearly tell the absurdity of Uganda’s bastard politics as introduced by Milton Obote continues to haunt the country. The words and actions from Museveni’s government clearly indicate that it is criminal to compete against Museveni. Since previous rulers too did exactly this, there is no fundamental change to brag about. May be for the newly rich! And they are right to “protect the gains.”

   Erias Nalukoola, MP for Kawempe East, accuses Museveni of the mentality that those who compete with him must be killed.

  “This is the opportunity to choose the people we want. You cannot call for elections yet order the security agencies to torture, abduct and beat your opponents. Those who don’t want to elect you must also be allowed to live.”

   During the 2021 election period, at least fifty young people were summarily killed in execution style. Many more were abducted and their where about still unknown. Abductions, torture and imprisonment without trial continue to this day specifically aimed at the members of the Opposition.

   For people’s voices and choices to be heard and respected, there must be systems, institutions and individuals deliberately positioned for this purpose. Pretence and incompetence are no substitutes for free and fair elections. Bastard politics continues to haunt Uganda because Museveni sees no life after State House. The more Museveni feels threatened or insecure, the more he becomes a threat and a danger to this country. He becomes melancholic when he thinks about a future without state power. This is where Uganda’s problems start.

   Winnie Byanyima, the wife of political prisoner Dr. Kizza Besigye, says that Museveni has overstayed to the extent that he is instead undoing the good he had been able to achieve. On November 16, 2025 politician Dr. Kizza Besigye and Haji Asadu Lutale made a year in jail since they were abducted in Nairobi from Riverside Hotel.

Martha Karua consults Dr. Kizza Besigye in one of their numerous court battles for human rights and constitutionalism in the Great Lakes Region.

   “Museveni is above the law and is doing what pleases him. But I want to tell him that time is coming to be out of power. He needs to retire. If he fails to make peace with Ugandans, they too will not treat him well and his family.”

   Elias Lukwago is one of the finest legal brains in Uganda. He is a member of People’s Front for Freedom (PFF) and the Lord Mayor of Kampala. He accuses the Judiciary to be in bed with Museveni when it comes to torturing political opponents and stifling democracy in Uganda.

  Dr. Besigye was Museveni’s personal doctor during the guerrilla war but ever since he accused Museveni of betraying the cause for which they waged the bloody war, he has been in and out of jail on a number of occasions. While a myriad of trumped up charges have been brought against him, he has always emerged on top of the evil plots.

   Lukwago maintains that the East African Community leaders have taken to collaborating to entrench authoritarianism in the region, and accuses Museveni of being the architect of this evil network.

   Kenyan lawyer come politician Martha Karua, is Besigye’s lead lawyer and concurs with Lukwago and the human rights activists.

   “There is a conspiracy among Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania to trash rule of law and entrench authoritarianism in the region. This calls for concerted effort among all the stake holders in the region.”