Security agencies asked not dent Christmas festival with violence

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Catholic bishops under the Uganda Episcopal Conference have asked security agencies and political actors not to dent this year’s Christmas festivities with violence.

In their Christmas message delivered by Bishop Joseph Anthony Zziwa, the Chairperson UEC and the Ordinary of Kiyinda-Mityana dioceses, the prelates decry the widespread acts of election-related violence during the ongoing political campaigns which have seen many lives lost and left dozens of others nursing injuries.

The Bishops who likened the current situation to the Birth of Christ which came in a politically charged season as Emperor Ceaser had ordered for a population census throughout the Roman Empire, acknowledged the fact that political campaigns and elections generate emotions.

They however argued that this shouldn’t make anybody lose sight of the dignity of human life and the need to respect one another.

The message of the Bishops comes at a time when several opposition candidates and their supporters are crying foul over brutality by security agencies under the guise of enforcing the COVID-19 guidelines and the standard operating procedures issued by the Electoral Commission and Ministry of Health to contain the spread of the respiratory infection.

The prelates have also asked the opposition leaders and supporters to respect security agencies and their opponents and desist from using inflammatory and degrading language and all acts of violence.

In the same vein, the Bishops called upon the Electoral Commission to intensify voter education across the country to enable voters effectively cast their ballots on the polling day.

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