1Uganda, since the colonial days, has grappled helplessly with a barbaric and ferocious vice of ethnic and religious sectarianism, often shoved down our spines by selfish and evidently incompetent leaders, mostly in the political arena.
Our history, shaped by the deep-seated mischiefs stemming from sectarian tendencies, serves as a vital lesson. It reminds us to learn from our past and to move beyond these harmful and anti-people flaws.
The divide-and-rule strategy employed by the British colonial administration was significantly reinforced by scriptures that manipulated sentiments, ultimately pitting people of the same heritage against one another, all in the name of newfound “light” and new gifts such as mirrors that chiefs had never seen. This manipulation set the stage for the notorious religious wars that ushered in a reign of terror.
In 1888, following their victory over the Christians, the Muslims appointed their own Kabaka, Kalema, who embraced Islam and adopted the name Nuhu. He took bold steps to establish Islam as the official state religion, mandating circumcision for all Baganda males and enforcing adherence to Sharia law. In a pivotal letter to Sultan Seyyid written upon his ascension to the throne in December 1888, Kalema declared, “I am now the King of Buganda and Muslim. I believe in Allah and his prophet Mohammed, and I always thank God for that. Please send me your flag, Islamic books, teachers, and arms and ammunition to convert the infidels.”
In Ankole, Omugabe Kahaya was made to sign a pledge in which he swore that all Banyankore should be Protestants. He also swore to protest the presence of the Roman Catholic teachers and agents in his kingdom.
In 1910, at the dawn of the 20th century, King Daudi Chwa of Buganda received an invitation to travel to Britain. However, a significant dispute arose concerning the choice of Prince David Musanje as the translator for the royal entourage. Sir Apollo Kaggwa, the Prime Minister of Buganda, strongly opposed Musanje’s involvement for being a Catholic.
More recently, the vice of religious radicalization led to the birth of the notorious Holy Spirit Movement by Lakwena and the Lord’s Resistance Army by Josph Kony that caused untold suffering and wanton bloodshed in Northern Uganda.
Why am I giving all these ugly references? It is simply because, like Talleyrand wrote, referring to the Bourbons (the rulers of France), many politicians, because of greed for power and positions, have learned nothing and forgotten nothing.
MP Mary Paula Turyahikayo, a former Woman Member of Parliament (MP) for Rubabo county, Rukungiri district, who lost miserably in an election of 2021-2026, has since revisited and revised the notes of the above sectarian leaders, and she is currently attempting to implement them, one by one, this time round using the Catholic church in Rukungiri district.
As you will see in the attached copy of the minutes of a meeting she convened on November 11, 2024, as the Chairperson of Peace and Justice in Rukungiri, Turyahikayo, in her opening remarks, lamented about the absence of a Catholic MP in the entire Rukungiri district.
According to her, the Catholic Church, in the entire district, is desperately looking up to her as its sole beacon of hope for survival and continuity, adding that most Catholics should be made aware of their political position through mass sermons in their respective parishes.
As if that was not enough damage, Mary Paula, boasting of her position on the committee of church laity and her “proximity” with the Rt. Rev. Callist Rubaramira, the Bishop of Kabale Diocese, made it clear that she would not hesitate to get rid of any parish priest in the district who would not align with her mission.
A case in point was her personal attack on Rev. Fr. Jeremiah Tumwijukye, the Rwengiri Parish priest, who she considered an enemy, and by the account of the meeting minutes, she committed to talking to the bishop to have him transferred from the Rukungiri Catholic community.
Any decent human being, well in his/her senses, would be shocked to learn that a community leader, at her level, urged the members in a meeting, using an infamous racist rhetoric of “Buri mbuzi ahankondo yaayo,” loosely translated to mean that Catholics should vote for only Catholics. If it weren’t for the infamous western protocol rule that once an Honorable, always an Honorable, this venomous politician would cease to be referred to as so because her clandestine actions and ill intentions suggest otherwise.
This type of virulent indoctrination mirrors the actions of self-proclaimed prophet Joseph Kibwetere, infamous for his visions of the Virgin Mary in the 1980s, which culminated in the tragic Kanungu cult massacre where 700 followers perished in 2000.
Turyahikayo, sitting with his indoctrinated congregation and spewing such noxious sentiments, clearly indicates that some apples did not fall far from the tree, but rather in her Bugandaza compound, which shares a close border with Kanungu.
While clutching at convenient straws, she attempted to indicate and paint MP Jim Muhwezi as the enemy and Pharaoh of the Catholic Church in Rukungiri District, citing that for the Catholic Church to make any meaningful progress, they must first get rid of the MP, as the area Member of Parliament.
Upon seeing this allegation, this column, out of curiosity, randomly sampled Catholic churches and other institutions in Rujumbura that Minister Muhwezi has supported since 2021, although there was sufficient evidence to indicate that the good general had been supporting all beliefs in the district since 1996.
Preliminary results indicated that in Bugangari Sub-County, since 2021, Hon. Muhwezi has supported Kazindiro Primary School, Kazindiro Catholic Church, Kyaburere Catholic Church, Kyaburere Primary School, Katerampungu Catholic Church, Nyangajara. Catholic Church, Nyangajara Primary School, Rwengiri Catholic Church, St. Williams SS Rwengiri, Nyakitabata Primary School, Kakirago Catholic Church, Kakindo Primary School, Burembo Catholic Church, Kanyankyende Catholic Church, Kashenyi Catholic Church, etc.
In Nyakegyeme Sub-County, Gen. Muhwezi has supported Katooma Primary School, Rushasha Primary School, Nyaburondo Hiika, St. Joseph’s Rushasha Secondary School, St. John’s Memorial the Baptist Kahoko, etc.
In Buhunga Sub-County, Minister Muhwezi supported Rutooma Catholic parish, Nyarubare Catholic Church, Rwabagumira hiika, Kibirizi Catholic Church, Keihumure Primary School, Ikuniro Primary School, Kakamba Catholic Church, Kanyondo Primary School, etc.
In Ruhinda Sub-County, Jim Muhwezi has supported Rwamagaya Catholic Parish, Nyakanyinya Sub Parish, Rukarikakari hiika, Rweshama hiika, Rwoya, Rwamagaya Primary School, Kicwamba Primary School, Nyakanyinya Primary School, Nyamambo Primary School, Runyinya Catholic Church, Katokye Primary School, Katokye Catholic Church, Kabasoni Catholic Church, Ruyaayo hiika, Kafuka hiika, Kagarama, and Kabare Catholic Church.
In Bwambara Sub County, he supported Kirama Catholic Church and Kikongi Catholic Church. In Rwerere Town Council, he supported St. Lawrence Catholic Church, Kabwoma Primary School, Kabwoma Catholic Church, and Rwerere Catholic Church. Outside Rujumbura Constituency, Jim Muhwezi has assisted Nyakibale Lower Primary School, Nyakibale Parish, the construction of Bishops House, Christ the King Church, St. Mathias Nyakishenyi Vocational Senior Secondary School, Kihumuro Vocational Senior Secondary School, and Rutooma Vocational Technical Institute.
From the above sample space, and by the racist and divisive account of Turyahikayo, it beats any decent human’s understanding of who is the arch enemy of the Catholic Church, and by extension, the entire district of Rukungiri.
Since 1986, H.E. Yoweri Museveni has, in almost all his publicMathias Mpuuga, Abed Bwanika, lectures and presentations, condemned ethnic and religious sectarianism and advanced the notion of politics of mutual interest as opposed to that of identity. However, it seems that some of his sermons have been falling on the deaf ears of some errant politicians like Turyahikayo.
Your Excellency, allow me to report to you that who is contending to contest to represent the distinguished women of Rukungiri on the NRM ticket, her strategy to return to Parliament is to rally Catholics against Protestants and all other faiths in the coming election. It’s our hope, as citizens of Rukungiri, that you, as the Chairman of the NRM party and Sower of Mustard Seed, will crack the whip on such misleaders; otherwise, your seeds might be falling on rocky ground.
Your Grace Rt. Rev. Callist Rubaramira, one of your parishioners, who is also on the committee of laity, Mrs. Turyahikayo is threatening to get rid of all parish priests and catechists who are presumed to be supporting non-Catholic political candidates. She’s determined to influence whatever sermon is preached on the pulpit in every mass. Worse still, she is using your noble name to fulfill her evil mission.
To the entire electorate in Rukungiri, we are in the 21st century, and some of the issues that Uganda is grappling with are the fragmentation of the African market, the need for private sector development, the exportation of unprocessed raw materials, the underdevelopment of the service sector, the challenges in the agricultural sector, the inadequacy of infrastructure, and the ongoing threats to democracy.
The aforementioned issues we face extend beyond just Catholics or Protestants alone; they impact all Ugandans indiscriminately; therefore, as residents from Rukungiri, it’s our civic duty to recognize and actively oppose characters like Turyahikayo, who should be seen for who they truly are, which, for avoidance of doubt, are divisive and poisonous sectarians.
Nyehangane Christopher
The writer is a Masters’ student at Makerere University and an active citizen of Rukungiri District.
