Civil society organisations have expressed concern over religious sectarianism that they said has increased in Kigezi Sub-region in the ongoing electoral process.
The executive director of Kigezi Human Rights Foundation, Mr Daniel Eguma and the chief executive officer of Kick Corruption out of Uganda, Mr Robert Kakuru, last Wednesday cautioned locals against voting for candidates based on their religious affiliations.
‘….the leaders of the different religious groups are mobilising their followers to elect political leaders from their faiths regardless of the manifestos being presented to them by candidates vying for different political seats. If this trend is not addressed, it may deny the citizens a chance of electing able leadership that can cause development in the area,’ Mr Kakuru said.
Mr Eguma accused the Electoral Commission of not doing enough to stop the vice. ‘If the citizens are fully educated on their rights in an electoral process, sectarian tendencies in the electoral processes will be fully addressed,’ Mr Eguma said.
The Kabale District NRM party publicity secretary, Mr Edison Turyahabwa, acknowledged that religious sectarianism is weakening the party and asked President Museveni to address it.
‘There is need for urgent intervention if the NRM party support is to remain solid in this area,’ Mr Turyahabwa said. The spokesperson of the Electoral Commission, Mr Julius Mucunguzi, said that religious sectarianism is against the law.
‘Creating awareness about the dangers of religious sectarianism should not wait for elections. Voter civic education, civic awareness must be a continuous process not only done by the Electoral Commission because, according to the Uganda Constitution, Uganda Human Rights Commission is the body mandated to undertake civic education and the Electoral Commission undertakes voter education.
The issue of civic awareness of people knowing their responsibilities as citizens requires everybody. Those blaming the arrangement forget that they are supposed to be part of the solutions,’ Mr Mucunguzi said.
The Director of the Justice and Peace Commission for the Kabale Diocese, Fr Balthazar Ndyomugabe, said they would intensity their civil education efforts.
‘Religious sectarianism is just a symptom of lack of civic education. Fighting poverty in communities is one way of empowering community members to avoid religious sectarianism.’