Mathias Mazinga
29 June 2009
Kampala — THE Archbishop of Kampala Diocese, Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, has described as 'unconstitutional' the proposal that idle land be seized by the Government and given to developers.
Citing the Constitution, Lwanga argued that Ugandans had the right to own property. "The Constitution provides for the right to property and also protects the citizens from deprivation," he said.
"Land issues need to be handled with care. If grabbing land is legalised, it will cause violence and bloodshed, which we do not need in our country."
Lwanga was speaking at the 130th anniversary celebrations of the arrival of the first Catholic Missionaries at Mapeera-Nabulagala Catholic Church in Rubaga division on Sunday.
He further urged Parliament not to pass laws that contradict the Constitution. He, however, commended President Yoweri Museveni for allowing negotiations with the Buganda Kingdom before tabling the Land Bill in Parliament.
He thanked Kabaka Muwenda Mutebi for fighting to protect his subjects' land. Lwanga proposed that any negotiations concerning land should include all stakeholders.
He condemned vices like corruption, rape, child-sacrifice, gluttony and hedonism, which he said were unholy. In his message read by Buganda cabinet affairs minister, Charles Peter Mayiga, Mutebi thanked the Catholic Church for its contribution to national development through education and health.
He asked the religious leaders to work hard to promote unity. The Kabaka asked Christians to allow their children to serve as priests, religious brothers and nuns.
Earlier, Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala commended the first missionaries, Fr. Simeon Lourdel Mapeera and Bro. Amans (of the missionary society of White Fathers) for bringing the Catholic faith to Uganda. He also broke the ground for the priests' house.
The function was attended by the Buganda deputy Katikkiro, Yusuf Nsambu and the provincial superior of the society of White Fathers, Rudi Lehnertz.
Mapeera-Nabulagala is cradle of Catholicity in Uganda, owing to its status as the first Catholic station, where the first Catholic Missionaries celebrated their first Mass on June 25, 1879.
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