{UAH} UGANDA COULD SOON HAVE A MINISTRY FOR RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS
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The Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) has threatened to boycott national functions if government imposes a single national prayer on the country.
On August 13, Moses Makumbi, the deputy director of the directorate of Ethics and Integrity in the Office of the President, announced officially that the process of adopting a national prayer had reached the consultative stage. Should the idea garner enough support, only one "unifying" prayer will be said at national functions or celebrations.
"We heard Makumbi calling for stakeholders to send in their contributions to the formation of the national prayer. Ours is simple, our leaders or representatives may be forced to boycott those functions where one prayer is said because in Islam prayers change depending on the conditions," Nsereko Mutumba, the UMSC spokesman, told The Observer on Friday.
Nsereko said Muslims begin their prayers with the name of Allah and end differently mostly with Muhammad (S.A.W).
"We totally oppose the idea of having one national prayer because it contradicts the freedom of worship. There is no single prayer that can ever unite all religions in this country. Muslims pray according to conditions; when there is drought, we pray for rain. We pray quite differently from other religions," Nsereko added.
Pastor Robert Kitakufe, from the Taberrnacle church at Ggaba, also opposed the national prayer. He said if that was the case, all churches and mosques would be turned into one prayer centre.
Joseph Kitakule, the spokesperson of the Inter-Religious Council in Uganda, said they had never received any communication from government calling for contributions to the national prayer.
Makumbi, who says he has written to most stakeholders urging them to send their contributions to the national prayer, said the prayer, just like the national anthem, was meant to unite all faiths at national functions.
slubwama@observer.ug
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