The Archbishop of Church of Uganda, Dr. Stephen Kazimba Mugalu has castigated government for closing places of worship as one of the ways of controlling the spread of Covid-19.
Addressing journalists at Namirembe Cathedral on Monday, Dr Kaziimba said places of worship are where the are sick, scared and desperate run to as they seek solace and the decision to close them was unnecessary. He said government would have instead told believers to strictly follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as they attended services.
He however urged church leaders to involve themselves in learning new technologies which will enable them to conduct online services.
“Closing a church is like closing the source of hope to the hopeless. However, to the church leaders, let’s use this opportunity to adopt more digital and online technology on how we can preach the word of God to people while at home,” he said.
Dr Kaziimba’s comments follows President Yoweri Museveni’s directive to suspend religious and political gatherings in order to contain the deadly second wave of Covid-19.
“All schools and institutions of higher learning must close for 42 days effective Monday, June 7, 2021, at 8 am. Communal prayers in churches and mosques have also been suspended for 42 days. Also, the inter-district movements have been suspended,” Museveni said on Sunday during his State of nation address.
“In this second wave, we have got more numbers in two weeks than we got in four months previously ‘it is becoming a real problem. The reasons behind this number include poor compliance to SOPs, failure in some schools to monitor signs and symptoms among learners, as well as concealment of data by some school authorities,” he said.
He added that the variants are ‘more aggressive’ and are causing a shift in infections to the younger age groups, however, he noted that there has been a lot of relaxation at all levels.
“There is a general laxity in districts yet the district task forces should be the bedrock of the national response in the fight against the pandemic. The virus can only be stopped if all the people of Uganda can take personal responsibility for protecting themselves – their families and where they work,” said Museveni.
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