Leading the campaign was Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, the most trending Catholic politician. Kyagulanyi alluded to Archbishop Lwanga’s outspoken criticism of government’s excesses, suggesting it could have led to his death.
On Easter eve, Ugandans woke up to the shocking and sad news of the sudden death of the Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese, Dr Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, 68. He died in his sleep from a heart attack.
A day before his death, on Good Friday, Archbishop Lwanga was seen in public performing his duties. But he was visibly frail, as photos circulating on social media indicated. That suggested all was not well with his health. Yet when news of his death broke, Opposition politicians — Prof Patrick Lumumba says the ones we have in Africa oppose everything and propose nothing — were already pointing the accusing finger at the government but without incontrovertible evidence of its culpability.
Leading the smear campaign was Bobi Wine, alluding to Archbishop Lwanga’s outspoken criticism of government’s excesses suggesting it could have led to his death.
No Opposition politician issued a statement saying that only a post-mortem would establish the cause of the Archbishop’s death and that Ugandans should wait patiently for what pathologists had to say.
On Easter Monday, Dr Kizza Besigye, a former four-time presidential candidate, like Bobi Wine made a fool of himself firing off a fake Facebook post that strongly suggested that President Museveni and his government were responsible for the death of Archbishop Lwanga.
Dr Besigye has since apologized to his supporters and explained that his sources “seem to have had incorrect information”. How shameless!
Bobi Wine has since turned his attention to other matters and has not posted anything about what the post-mortem found, perhaps because it is not what he and other Opposition politicians wanted to hear. How elusive!
The obsession of being relevant will send Bobi Wine to the extremes. His last post about the Archbishop’s death says: “Archbishop Lwanga joins several other eminent outspoken religious leaders who have recently died under very unclear circumstances. But we know the circumstances are very clear.”
If President Museveni has lied to Ugandans, his opponents have lied and lied. If he is dishonest, his opponents and their supporters very are dishonest.
Many Ugandans in places such as Boston and London have sharply criticized President Museveni for “lies, dishonesty and presiding over a corrupt government” when they relied on lies to enter the US and Britain — and relied on lies to secure citizenship in those countries. Such hypocrisy!
Politicians can still do better. Seeking relevance at all cost is not enough. Let them criticize bad leadership when they can demonstrate that they can usher in great leadership.
Let them use their formal education and take a scientific approach to truth. There should always be evidence backing up what you tell your supporters or what you share with the public.
