Lucy Akello for woman MP Amuru

Opposition sole Candidate-Ms Akello Lucy

M/s Akello Lucy’s credentials; The Joint opposition candidate has unique and credible background in regards to education and professional work experiences deem fit for Woman Member of parliament for Amuru District.

Lucy Akello for opposition woman MP Amuru

M/s Akello Lucy holds a bachelor degree in political science of Makerere University and Master Degree in development studies, she was vetted by opposition parties among three good candidates and she was selected as opposition joint candidate given her progressive work experience in Acholi sub region for ten years at various management levels, for the last five years she was working as Executive Director for Justice & Peace Commission under Arch diocese of Gulu with a portfolio covering seven Districts.

Amuru by election for Woman Member of Particular is gaining momentum with opposition sole candidate Ms Akello Lucy well positioned as a seasonal leader highlighting core issues at stake in Amuru District that have taken time and need immediate redress in one year period till next general elections as follows:

1. Building Cohesion among Amuru’s leaders at the District level as well as national level, working together with different political parties to put forward key issues affecting the people of Amuru and the Country at large.

2. In regards to land grabbing taking place throughout this Country is on her top agenda since this concern has its epicentre in Amuru District in the last three years and beyond. This is primary issue that call for engagement with different stakeholders to ensure amicable settlement are in place, Ms Akello reiterated the willingness of people of Amuru in coming investors at all levels - nationally and internationally to invest heavily in Amuru District without being brokered of President Museveni of Uganda or his agents.

Our people must be provided with opportunities to engage with investors and dialogue on terms and conditions without middlemen especially corrupt officials from NRM-National Resistance Movement party selfish members in Amuru District or elsewhere.

3. Violation of human rights in Amuru has been order of the day, for instance Apar and Pabbo community were abused and forcefully relegated out of their land on a number of occasions, local population are arrested and detained as means of suppressing or threatening them against their rights to land and ownership of property.

The people of Amuru deserved the right to choose their leader without prejudice/predisposition; M/s Akello Lucy hinted strongly on people rights to votes cannot be bought as opposed to NRM candidate methods of bribery of voters with petty money, drinks and salt. Our people must be given all options to choose who to lead them.

4. One of the issues affecting the general population in Uganda today and Amuru particularly is the fact that state operatives and the ruling party have pre-determined which candidates goes through before a number of elections e.g. the promotion of the kyangwangi resolution. Government resources and tax payers’ monies are spent to bribe through and promote this ambition. Example the recent four million per sub county through NRM members of parliament, the women day celebrations still to only women members of parliament who ascribe to the NRM party.

There is need to reinstate and revive the peoples hope and trust on the election process

Campaigns’ trail:

The joint opposition candidate, M/s Akello Lucy successfully launched her campaign at Atiak Sub Country accompanied by three Party presidents - Dr Olara Otunnu of Uganda People Congress, Major Gen Gregory Mugisha Muntu of Forum for Democratic Change and President General Norbert Mao of Democratic Party.

They were welcome amidst jubilation of over 3000 people in Atiak Sub County in the first day and second day of campaign – over 5000 people in Pabbo Sub County gather to receive her in the company of President General of Democratic Party (Norbert Mao) and Kilak Member of Parliament (Hon Gilbert Olanya).

Friends and teammates in democratic transformation of our Nation-Uganda;

This is the high time to say no-no-no to agent of darkness, let stand up for constitutional democratic change in this Country; we must start now in Amuru by election for Woman MP and move forward. NRM party has painted this Country with darkness; i.e. poor service delivery, corruption at its peak, and nepotisms on the rise day by day. We all deserve the best in this Country and we all have stake in the process to transform this nation.

My friends and members in struggle for fundamental constitutional democratic change from all opposition parties – Forum for Democratic Change, Democratic Party and Uganda People Congress, thank you very much for your supports and acceptance for sole Flag bearer for main opposition parties.

This by-election is not about Joint opposition Candidate (M/s Akello Lucy) Vs NRM candidate (Jane Frances Okilli) but it’s about standing for the right thing put forward by opposition forces against liars and probaganda fabricated by the NRM ruling party. Be firm get this to the right track, build hope in our electorate and reshape the future of this Country.

Opposition parties flag bearer appreciate your continued supports at all-time both materially and spiritually. May the good Lord bless you in abundant.

Presiden Barack Obama celebration and tribute to Nelson Mandela 1918- 2013

To Graça Machel and the Mandela family; to President Zuma and members of the government; to heads of state and government, past and present; distinguished guests - it is a singular honor to be with you today, to celebrate a life unlike any other. To the people of South Africa - people of every race and walk of life - the world thanks you for sharing Nelson Mandela with us. His struggle was your struggle. His triumph was your triumph. Your dignity and hope found expression in his life, and your freedom, your democracy is his cherished legacy.

 

It is hard to eulogize any man - to capture in words not just the facts and the dates that make a life, but the essential truth of a person - their private joys and sorrows; the quiet moments and unique qualities that illuminate someone’s soul. How much harder to do so for a giant of history, who moved a nation toward justice, and in the process moved billions around the world. Born during World War I, far from the corridors of power, a boy raised herding cattle and tutored by elders of his Thembu tribe - Madiba would emerge as the last great liberator of the 20th century.

 Like Gandhi, he would lead a resistance movement - a movement that at its start held little prospect of success. Like King, he would give potent voice to the claims of the oppressed, and the moral necessity of racial justice. He would endure a brutal imprisonment that began in the time of Kennedy and Khrushchev, and reached the final days of the Cold War. Emerging from prison, without force of arms, he would - like Lincoln - hold his country together when it threatened to break apart. Like America’s founding fathers, he would erect a constitutional order to preserve freedom for future generations - a commitment to democracy and rule of law ratified not only by his election, but by his willingness to step down from power. 

 Given the sweep of his life, and the adoration that he so rightly earned, it is tempting then to remember Nelson Mandela as an icon, smiling and serene, detached from the tawdry affairs of lesser men. But Madiba himself strongly resisted such a lifeless portrait. Instead, he insisted on sharing with us his doubts and fears; his miscalculations along with his victories. “I’m not a saint,” he said, “unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.” It was precisely because he could admit to imperfection - because he could be so full of good humor, even mischief, despite the heavy burdens he carried - that we loved him so. He was not a bust made of marble; he was a man of flesh and blood - a son and husband, a father and a friend. 

 That is why we learned so much from him; that is why we can learn from him still. For nothing he achieved was inevitable. In the arc of his life, we see a man who earned his place in history through struggle and shrewdness; persistence and faith. He tells us what’s possible not just in the pages of dusty history books, but in our own lives as well. Mandela showed us the power of action; of taking risks on behalf of our ideals. Perhaps Madiba was right that he inherited, “a proud rebelliousness, a stubborn sense of fairness” from his father. Certainly he shared with millions of black and colored South Africans the anger born of, “a thousand slights, a thousand indignities, a thousand unremembered moments…a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people.” 

 But like other early giants of the ANC - the Sisulus and Tambos - Madiba disciplined his anger; and channeled his desire to fight into organization, and platforms, and strategies for action, so men and women could stand-up for their dignity. Moreover, he accepted the consequences of his actions, knowing that standing up to powerful interests and injustice carries a price. “I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination,” he said at his 1964 trial. “I’ve cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

 Mandela taught us the power of action, but also ideas; the importance of reason and arguments; the need to study not only those you agree with, but those who you don’t. He understood that ideas cannot be contained by prison walls, or extinguished by a sniper’s bullet. He turned his trial into an indictment of apartheid because of his eloquence and passion, but also his training as an advocate. He used decades in prison to sharpen his arguments, but also to spread his thirst for knowledge to others in the movement. And he learned the language and customs of his oppressor so that one day he might better convey to them how their own freedom depended upon his. Mandela demonstrated that action and ideas are not enough; no matter how right, they must be chiseled into laws and institutions. He was practical, testing his beliefs against the hard surface of circumstance and history.

 On core principles he was unyielding, which is why he could rebuff offers of conditional release, reminding the Apartheid regime that, “prisoners cannot enter into contracts.” But as he showed in painstaking negotiations to transfer power and draft new laws, he was not afraid to compromise for the sake of a larger goal. And because he was not only a leader of a movement, but a skillful politician, the Constitution that emerged was worthy of this multiracial democracy; true to his vision of laws that protect minority as well as majority rights, and the precious freedoms of every South African. Finally, Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit. 

 There is a word in South Africa- Ubuntu - that describes his greatest gift: his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that can be invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us. We can never know how much of this was innate in him, or how much of was shaped and burnished in a dark, solitary cell. But we remember the gestures, large and small - introducing his jailors as honored guests at his inauguration; taking the pitch in a Springbok uniform; turning his family’s heartbreak into a call to confront HIV/AIDS - that revealed the depth of his empathy and understanding. He not only embodied Ubuntu; he taught millions to find that truth within themselves.

 It took a man like Madiba to free not just the prisoner, but the jailor as well; to show that you must trust others so that they may trust you; to teach that reconciliation is not a matter of ignoring a cruel past, but a means of confronting it with inclusion, generosity and truth. He changed laws, but also hearts. For the people of South Africa, for those he inspired around the globe - Madiba’s passing is rightly a time of mourning, and a time to celebrate his heroic life. But I believe it should also prompt in each of us a time for self-reflection. With honesty, regardless of our station or circumstance, we must ask: how well have I applied his lessons in my own life? It is a question I ask myself - as a man and as a President. We know that like South Africa, the United States had to overcome centuries of racial subjugation. As was true here, it took the sacrifice of countless people - known and unknown - to see the dawn of a new day. Michelle and I are the beneficiaries of that struggle. But in America and South Africa, and countries around the globe, we cannot allow our progress to cloud the fact that our work is not done. The struggles that follow the victory of formal equality and universal franchise may not be as filled with drama and moral clarity as those that came before, but they are no less important. For around the world today, we still see children suffering from hunger, and disease; run-down schools, and few prospects for the future. Around the world today, men and women are still imprisoned for their political beliefs; and are still persecuted for what they look like, or how they worship, or who they love. We, too, must act on behalf of justice. We, too, must act on behalf of peace. There are too many of us who happily embrace Madiba’s legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality. There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba’s struggle for freedom, but do not tolerate dissent from their own people. And there are too many of us who stand on the sidelines, comfortable in complacency or cynicism when our voices must be heard. The questions we face today - how to promote equality and justice; to uphold freedom and human rights; to end conflict and sectarian war - do not have easy answers. But there were no easy answers in front of that child in Qunu. Nelson Mandela reminds us that it always seems impossible until it is done. South Africa shows us that is true. South Africa shows us we can change. We can choose to live in a world defined not by our differences, but by our common hopes. We can choose a world defined not by conflict, but by peace and justice and opportunity. We will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again. But let me say to the young people of Africa, and young people around the world - you can make his life’s work your own. Over thirty years ago, while still a student, I learned of Mandela and the struggles in this land.

 It stirred something in me. It woke me up to my responsibilities - to others, and to myself - and set me on an improbable journey that finds me here today. And while I will always fall short of Madiba’s example, he makes me want to be better. He speaks to what is best inside us. After this great liberator is laid to rest; when we have returned to our cities and villages, and rejoined our daily routines, let us search then for his strength - for his largeness of spirit - somewhere inside ourselves. And when the night grows dark, when injustice weighs heavy on our hearts, or our best laid plans seem beyond our reach - think of Madiba, and the words that brought him comfort within the four walls of a cell: It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: 

I am the captain of my soul. What a great soul it was. We will miss him deeply. May God bless the memory of Nelson Mandela. May God bless the people of South Africa. Source: White House

Akelle Labermona -Jeff Korondo

Quotable Qoutes

Nani Graduation

Church of Uganda has a new Archbishop

The Church of the Province of Uganda (or Church of Uganda) is a member church of the Anglican Communion. Currently there are 34 dioceses which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop.

Janani Jakaliya Luwum (c. 1922 – 17 February 1977), was the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda from 1974 to 1977 and one of the most influential leaders of the modern church in Africa. He was murdered in 1977 by either Idi Amin personally or by Amin's henchmen.

Luwum was born in the village of Mucwini in the Kitgum District to Acholi parents. He attended Gulu High School and Boroboro Teacher Training College, after which he taught at a primary school. Luwum converted to Christianity in 1948, and in 1949 he went to Buwalasi Theological College. In 1950 he was attached to St. Philip's Church in Gulu. He was ordained a deacon in 1953, and the following year he was ordained a priest. He served in the upper Nile Diocese of Uganda and later in the Diocese of Mbale. In 1961 he was consecrated bishop of the Anglican Church Province of Northern Uganda at Gulu. After five years he was appointed archbishop of the metropolitan province of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga (in Zaire), becoming the second African to hold this position

After its founding in 1877 by the Church Missionary Society, the Church grew through the evangelization of Africans by Africans. The first Ugandan clergy were ordained in 1893 and the Church of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi became an independent Province in 1961. The history of the Church in Uganda has been marked by civil strife and martyrdom. In May 1980 the new Province of Burundi, Rwanda, and Zaire was inaugurated; the Province of Uganda has grown since then from seventeen to twenty-seven dioceses.

Each diocese is divided into archdeaconries, each headed by a senior priest known as an archdeacon. The archdeaconries are further subdivided into parishes, headed by a parish priest. Parishes are subdivided into sub-parishes, headed by lay readers. As of the 2002 Census, 8,782,821 Ugandans (35.9% of the population) consider themselves affiliated with the church

The current  Archbishop is the Most Reverend Henry Luke Orombi, who was enthroned in 2004 and retires in December 2012.The Diocese of Kampala is the fixed episcopal see of the Archbishop, but unlike many other fixed metropolitical sees, the incumbent is not officially known as 'Archbishop of Kampala', but bears the longer title 'Archbishop of Uganda and Bishop of Kampala'.

The Rt. Rev. Stanley Ntagali was elected the 8th Archbishop of the Church of Uganda. The election was held during a meeting of the House of Bishops on Friday, 22nd June, 2012, at St. Paul's Cathedral, Namirembe.

The election was by secret ballot and was presided over by the Provincial Chancellor. Bishop Ntagali was elected with more than a two-thirds majority, per the Constitution of the Church of Uganda.

Bishop Ntagali was consecrated Bishop on 19th December 2004 and has served as the Bishop of Masindi-Kitara Diocese for eight years.

Born in Ndorwa County in Kabale District in 1955, he shifted with his family to Wambabya Parish in Kizirifumbi Sub-county in Hoima District when he was 16 years old. On Christmas Eve 1974, at the age of 19, he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour and was born again.

He began working as a teacher in Wambabya Primary School, and later spent two years as a missionary in Karamoja Diocese. He did his theological training at Bishop Tucker Theological College, St. Paul's Theological College, Limuru, Kenya, and the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies in the UK.

After serving as a missionary in Karamoja Diocese, he served the remainder of his priestly ministry in various capacities in Bunyoro-Kitara Diocese until 2002, when he was appointed Provincial Secretary.

As a Bishop, Bishop Ntagali has represented the Archbishop in international meetings, served as the Chair of the Church House Board, and led the committee that designed guidelines for retiring Bishops.

Bishop Ntagali is married to Beatrice and they have five children.

On 8th January 2012 Archbishop Henry Orombi announced his intention to retire after nine years of service to continue a ministry of preaching, which has been his passion. He said, "I want to devote the rest of my life, while I am still able, to fulfilling this calling full-time."

Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi has served as the 7th Archbishop of the Church of Uganda. Elected in July 2003, he was installed as Archbishop on 25th January 2004 at St. Paul's Cathedral, Namirembe. He has served with distinction for nine years; consecrated 25 new Bishops and launched four new Dioceses. It is under his leadership that construction has begun on Church House, and his successor will dedicate it next year, God willing.

To be eligible to be an Archbishop, one must already be serving as a Bishop in the Church of Uganda, and must be at least 50 years old. Out of the 35 Bishops currently active in the Church of Uganda, 29 were eligible to become Archbishop.

The installation of the new Archbishop is expected to take place on 16th December at St. Paul's Cathedral, Namirembe. At that time, Archbishop Henry Orombi will hand over the pastoral staff to Archbishop-elect Stanley Ntagali who will then be invested with the authority to lead the Church of Uganda as Archbishop. The Presiding Bishop at the enthronement will be the Dean of the Province, who is the longest serving Bishop in the Church at that time.

Between now and December, Archbishop Henry Orombi will continue to do the work of the Archbishop and the Bishop of Kampala Diocese, as well as bid farewell to each of the 34 Dioceses.

The Archbishop-elect will say farewell to his Diocese and prepare to move to Kampala. His current Diocese will elect a new Bishop, since he will leave his Diocese to also become the Bishop of Kampala Diocese.

The previous Archbishops of the Church of Uganda have been the following:

1. Archbishop Leslie Brown, a British missionary, was the first Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga-Zaire (1961-1966)

2. Archbishop Erica Sabiti (1966 - 1974)

3. Archbishop Janani Luwum (1974 - 1977). Martyred in 1977.

4. Archbishop Silvanus Wani (1977 - 1983). In 1980, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga-Zaire became a separate, Francophone Province, and Uganda became its own Province.

5. Archbishop Yona Okoth (1983 - 1995)

6. Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi-Nkoyoyo (1995 - 2004)

7. Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi (2004 - 2012)