Munno Voice: Kampala Archbishop His Grace Dr. Lwanga: Explains why he has embarked on ‘Operation Wealth Creation’ Started WEKEMBE SACCO targeting women and youth Why he is set to put up a health centre and micro-finance at every Parish Church ultimately needs informed, healthy and rich Christians Today we bring you the second and last part of our exclusive interview with His Grace Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, the Archbishop Kampala Diocese. In this continued serialization we continue to highlight Dr. Lwanga’s efforts to not only administer to the souls of his flock but also his efforts to ensure that their bodies too are taken care of. Dr. Lwanga is a very humorous person. He is equally a workaholic, a meticulously orderly and clean man to the point of insisting everything around him works efficiently and effectively like clockwork. Above all he is a man that wants to see human kind progress and live a good life. Please enjoy his thoughts in this exclusive Q&A Q: How was the WEKEMBE idea formed? A: This idea was founded in 2000 by myself and the Kasana-Luwero diocesan Pastoral council when I had just been appointed Bishop there. On November 1, 2014 over 2,000 people gathered and marked the 14th Anniversary since the Catholic Church launched Women Empowerment with Knowledge of Evangelization, Management and Basic Entrepreneur (WEKEMBE). This celebration took place at Hotel Africana in Kampala and Hon. Anna Amelia Kyambadde (Trade minister) was our guest of honor. WEKEMBE’s ideology is simple; we want to empower the local communities. We want people who can even borrow a minimum of Shs50,000 per week and use it maximally to grow it until they are millionaires. Some of our people are so far involved in projects like greenhouse mushroom growing, wine making, maize mill and flour packing, apiary, fruit growing and many other products. Our next plan of action is through the success of WEKEMBE system to go ahead and fight diseases and poverty hence soon we will have a dispensary and a WEKEMBE SACCO available at all Catholic Church parishes in Kampala Archdiocese as a way of bringing our services closer to our people. WEKEMBE was initially started to empower women with the necessary knowledge both for evangelization as they are the initial educators of this nation. We wanted to empower them with skills to run their homes in a financially sustainable manner. However, the movement now embraces also men and the youths. WEKEMBE was to provide women with the knowledge they needed on how to bring up their children. The church also looked at their wellbeing generally and how to sustain their homes without being too much dependent on external support. I am therefore glad to report that the movement which started with only five people has now over 7000 members, men and women, who have benefitted from it by starting their own projects that generate some very tangible income for their homes. We started WEKEMBE with only UgShs4m but today it is worth over UgShs5bn and counting. I am grateful to the members who borrow money from the movement and repay what they have borrowed on time. I would like to console all those who have lost their relatives and other beloved ones as well as items in several fires that have of late engulfed markets and other business places where they operate their businesses. I encourage them not to give up but to endure all the catastrophes and forge ahead. I am also calling upon more Christians to join the movement and I urge those who have benefitted from the project to help others by sharing their experiences and life changing testimonies. Q: So how did you exactly conceptualize the WEKEMBE idea? A: As you well know I did my doctorate in Canon law which is the Catholic Church governing laws. However after my doctorate I still felt inadequately prepared to serve our Christian community. I therefore did another degree in Social Development; I think this could be the equivalent of Development Studies here in Uganda. Therefore my dissertation thesis revolved around how to help poor communities in Uganda get financial empowerment. So WEKEMBE was actually my research project and when I came back to Uganda and I got the opportunity I started implementing my research work because I had made Kasana-Luwero diocese my case study. As you can see we are not gambling, whatever we are implementing has been well researched and thought through. Q: We hear of plans to redevelop Namugongo and Munyonyo Martyrs’ shrines into world class pilgrimage centers. What can you share in this regard? A: You know the Uganda Martyrs are the heart of faith and religion not only for Uganda but almost the whole world. Their courage and faith daily continue to inspire the world. We have therefore decided to upgrade Namugongo Martyrs shrine, near Kampala city as well Munyonyo martyrs shrine where the first three martyrs were killed into worship and tourism sites of global repute. The objective is to develop conducive facilities at these sites for worshippers, pilgrims and tourists to make their pilgrimages successfully without going through so much hassle. A comprehensive plan to refurbish and expand facilities at the Martyrs shrine at Namugongo and Munyonyo has been drawn up as a blue print for redevelopment of these sites. Among others the narrow and often congested road network to and around the Shrine is to be upgraded and expanded. The buildings and sanitation at the shrine will be refurbished while security systems are to be enhanced with state of the art closed circuit televisions (CCTV) and guard towers and a modern police spot being set up. We also intend to set up at Namugongo a Papal apartment, some low budget hostels and hotels for the pilgrims. We also want the Namugongo Parish to be separate from the Shrine; therefore we will be setting up a new Martyrs shrine and Priests’ house as part of the upgrade plans. This task needs a lot of money and I invite some good willed investors to partner with us. For example I don’t see why an investor cannot for example build and operate under a concessionary agreement the low budget hostels, hotel and Papal apartments. As a church our core duty is to preach the gospel, however, we would be willing to give all the necessary subsidiary support and protection to this investor so that he is able to recoup his money. I think this kind of arrangement is what today is known as the Public Private Partnership arrangement. Q: Is it true Fr. Raymond Kalanzi is now a Diocesan priest of Kampala Archdiocese? A: Yes I have appointed Rev. Fr. Raymond Kalanzi from the Missionaries of the Poor as a Diocesan priest of Kampala Archdiocese as Assistant Coordinator of the New Evangelization assisting Fr. Kizito Ssebunya P.P Ggoli Parish who is the Archdiocesan Co-coordinator. Q: What is your take on the role of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is playing in evangelization in the Catholic Church? A: The Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement is formally recognized by the Catholic Church. We have a manual that guides their operations. If ever in doubt of any of their operations, please do not hesitate to inform us as Church leaders so that we investigate and rectify any mistakes that may have been committed. Like I have been very clear on the issue of Mukajanga ministries, if he wants to operate under the Catholic Church umbrella he must follow Catholic Church instructions. Once he does that we will not have any problem with what he does. However, doing certain unacceptable things like selling holy oils in the name of the Catholic Church cannot and must not be tolerated. As the Ordinary of this diocese, it is my duty to speak out and safe guard my flock. If I do not correct some of these mistakes I will have terribly failed before man and God to do my job. Q: Do you have a special message for the people Your Grace? A: The reason I have shared so much information in this interview is because I want our Christians to be part of our innovations. This is because I believe working together we will achieve more. ‘Agalumila awamu, gegalya enyama’. TEAM means (Together We Achieve More). I also hereby invite all the Christians from the Kampala Ecclesiastical Province dioceses of Lugazi, Masaka, Kiyinda-Mityana, Kasana-Luwero and Kampala to join us all the six Bishops as we make a pilgrimage to Namugongo for the ecclesiastical province to celebrate the 50 years Golden Jubilee for the Uganda Martyrs since canonization as saints. Finally I believe with a good conscience, we would like to help our people knowing that our reward shall be history and God the Father judging us fairly. Therefore as we go forth to build our Church and nation, let us remember that here on earth God’s work must be our own. May God bless you all
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 19:34:37 +0000
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