Kampala — President Yoweri Museveni wants the churches and religious leaders to stay out of politics. He has said this before and he repeated it last Saturday while appearing on a local FM station.

The president's comments appear to have been provoked by the stand taken by the Catholic Church bishops and the Uganda Joint Christian Council to oppose the proposed amendment of the Constitution so that a president can serve more than two terms.

Mr Museveni says it is unwise for the bishops to "interfere" in politics. To him, the clergy should leave politics to the politicians.

We disagree. It is impossible to divorce religion from politics because churches do not operate in a vacuum. In fact there was a time when the Church wielded both political and spiritual power, especially in Europe.

Even today, the Vatican is an example of a state whose leader - the Pope - is both its spiritual and political head. So the fusion of politics and religion has not started in Uganda and will not end here.

Because successive governments have been a disappointment, many Ugandans find it easier to believe their church leaders rather than their politicians. On the other hand, the churches have a duty to feed not only the spiritual but also the political, social and economic needs of their people. That is why churches run schools, hospitals, etc.

Why haven't politicians asked the churches to leave education and health to them? If the bishops had spoken out in support of the proposed amendment, would the president have complained?

How can we possibly divorce religion from politics when each time the politicians mess up the country, it is the religious leaders to help pick up the pieces?

Why shouldn't bishops speak out on governance when their missions are filled with internally displaced people seeking refuge because the politicians are waging war or have failed to protect them?

As citizens, the clergy are entitled to their views, either as individuals or as institutions.

We believe the churches in Uganda would be abdicating their duty if they did not speak out on this issue, which is not only political, but also moral.