ANALYSIS: Archbishop Kizito Lwanga

📌 About Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga
• Born in January 1953
• Attended Kyabakadde Primary School
• Entered Nyenga Seminary in 1964
• Between 1972 and 1974, he studied at Katigondo National Major Seminary, in present-day Kalungu District. Studied Theology at Ggaba National Seminary, in Kampala.
• He was ordained a priest of Kampala Archdiocese on April 8, 1978 at Rubaga Cathedral by Cardinal Emmanuel Kiwanuka Nsubuga.
• In 1979, he joined the University of Clermont-Ferrand in France, were he studied administration and languages, with particular emphasis on administration.
• He studied at Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, where in 1994, he earned a doctorate in Canon Law.
• He was appointed first bishop of the Diocese of Kasana-Luweero on November 30, 1996 and consecrated bishop on March 1, 1997 at Kasana-Luweero, by Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala, Archbishop of Kampala
• Became Bishop of Kampala in 2006 after the retirement of Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala
• Was appointed as Archbishop of Kampala on August 19, 2006. He was the third Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kampala, succeeding Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala, who resigned.
• Was found dead on the morning of April 03 at his residence in Lubaga
• Was buried on April 08 in Rubaga Cathedral in Kampala

Spying on him

The 2018 Easter season was when the Dr Lwanga — government relationship ebbed to its lowest point. During the Way of Cross on March 30that year, Lwanga dropped a bombshell: he revealed how the government was spying on him.

Lwanga said he had received a call from someone who informed him that government had recruited priests and nuns to spy on him. He said the president was acting on wrong information provided by security agencies.

“Government thinks you want to overthrow government, be careful your grace. You must be the next Luwum (Archbishop Jonan Luwum murdered Ida Amin in 1977),” Dr Lwanga quoted what the caller had told him. Dr Lwanga said another unidentified person came at night at his gate and threw a letter. “When I opened the letter, I saw a list of those who have been recruited to work for the security agencies.”

When government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo dismissed his assertion as unfounded, Lwanga responded by revealing more details during Easter Mass on April 01.

He said one day, security agencies officials turned up asking to check the room of a priest who had died to retrieve government stores. The archbishop said the security officers claimed they had given that priest a pistol. But he did not explain if soldiers got the pistol they came looking for or not.

Lwanga urged religious leaders to stop spying for government.

A week later—on April 8, 2018, Museveni held a face to face meeting with Dr Lwanga at Nakasero State Lodge. The relationship thawed thereafter.

Quoting Museveni, preaching democracy

But by end 2018, Lwanga was fired up again, hastily responding to Museveni New Year speech (which he had made on the night of December 31) accusing religious leaders of behaving as if they are an authority on everything, speaking in favour of people they fancy so they can get them into political power.

“Some of our religious people are so full of arrogance,” Museveni had said. “They talk most authoritatively on all and everything even when they have not bothered to find out the truth. This is assuming they do not have evil intentions which would be worse. That would make them the Caiaphas, the Chief Priest – that betrayed Jesus.”

In response, Lwanga said the clergy are simply playing their cardinal role as citizens to participate in nation building, and as well as resisting bad politics as President Museveni himself once asked Ugandans to do.

“The president, one day said all of us belong to the Movement system and he explained to us why he started the National Resistance Movement, he said; ‘I want people to resist bad politics’,” Dr Lwanga said. “So he commanded people to resist bad politics, he said we should resist bad politics, and I think he was right there. Clap for it [loud and long clapping]. Let us resist bad politics, let us resist bad politics and promote national unity because we’re all interested in this country and also to build a strong future for this country.”

As Lwanga quoted the Constitution on freedom of expression and Museveni’s historical remarks on democracy, he was loudly cheered by the congregation. He referred to the National Resistance Movement (NRM’s) 10-point Programme stipulated by Museveni in his book, `Sowing the Mustard Seed’, as a good guide in the work of national renewal.

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Source: URN