The presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC) in Uganda, Jacinto Kibuuka has blasted as ridiculous, a request by the Uganda Joint Christian Council to have the forthcoming election suspended for three years.
“I ask you to continue praying for our country over what is happening. You saw some religious leaders requesting that elections be suspended for three years but that is ridiculous. They(religious leaders should go home and reflect on what they said so that they return to speak sense,”Kibuuka said on Friday.
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The presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Orthodox Church in Uganda was speaking at the Mamre International Prayer Centre in Janda, Namugongo Wakiso district where he was the main celebrant of the Christmas service and he reacted to the request by the Uganda Joint Christian Council(UJCC).
UJCC, an organization that brings together the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church and the Orthodox Church on Wednesday during a press conference asked government to postpone presidential elections for three years but also requested for amendment of the Constitution to allow President Museveni continue ruling during the period of three years.
They said the move was aimed at allowing the country get over the Coronavirus pandemic but also for the political climate to cool down from the tensions it has now.
However, reacting to the request, Bishop Kibuuka said the Uganda Joint Christian Council misquoted the Constitution before coming up with the request.
“Article 260 of the 1995 constitution says that to postpone elections requires a referendum. You can’t talk of postponing elections only three weeks to polls. Consider the candidates who have suffered with teargas during campaigns and injected in a lot of resources. Coming up at this time to request for postponement is being unfair,” he said.
Kibuuka however advised UJCC to read the constitution clearly about the postponement of an election, noting that this can only be done in times of emergency.
“The only problem we have faced as a country is that some people are self-seekers but it is a pity for our country. Let the status quo remain.”
On Friday, Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga decried misinformation on social media, noting that the proposal to have the elections postponed for three years was not his but rather for UJCC
“This was not my proposal; it was a proposal of UJCC which I’m the chairman, with the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Dr. Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu and the Metropolitan Yona Lwanga,” he said at Lubaga Cathedral on Christmas day.
He insisted that he should not be demonized on social media for he just read the proposal.
