President meets Canterbury Archbishop Justin Welby

President Yoweri Museveni has held a meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, who paid a courtesy call on the President at State House, Entebbe yesterday. The Archbishop and  his delegation was on his way from South Sudan during which mission he also took off time to visit refugee camps in Moyo and Adjumani districts in Northern Uganda that house South Sudanese refugees who have taken shelter in the country following the insecurity in their own country.

President Museveni and his guest discussed humanitarian issues affecting neighbouring South Sudan. Mr. Museveni also briefed the Archbishop on the political history of Uganda saying that after independence, previous regimes in Uganda as well as religious groups became forerunners of sectarianism. He added that when the students’ movement built followership mechanism, sectarianism was fought against.

Archbishop Justin Welby said that the long-term political challenges in neighbouring South Sudan could be addressed through reconciliation. He said that he was happy to hear from South Sudanese living in Moyo and Adjumani camps that in Uganda the word ‘refugees’ is not used to refer to them. He noted that Ugandans are extremely extraordinary people and expressed optimism that sectarianism, as a socio-political problem in the world would diminish.

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Most Rev. Stanley Ntagali, said the objective of the formation of the Inter-Religious Council (IRC) Forum in Uganda was to strengthen cooperation and peace among Ugandans with a view to discourage sectarian tendencies.