You won’t silence me, priest tells gov’t

At a thanksgiving held at St. Victoro Catholic church in Kalisizo town council, Kyotera district, Rev. Fr. Richard Mugisha an outspoken Masaka based priest, told critics that he is not about to end his preachings against the government excesses.

Mugisha remained unknown to many until late last year after a video clip of him asking his congregation to support Robert Kyagulanyi – the lead opposition candidate in the previous presidential elections, circulated on social media platforms.

In the video, the priest who was leading the celebration of the holy eucharist mass also asked the people of Kyotera to vote out the state minister for Microfinance, Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo among other NRM candidates.

Kasolo eventually lost the elections to the Democratic Party (DP) candidate, John Paul Mpalanyi Lukwago.

The preachings attracted for the priest condemnation from the government and the ruling NRM but he seems unbothered.

At the weekend, Fr. Mugisha who is officially attached to Bisanje Catholic Parish near Masaka, returned to Kyotera for a thanksgiving fete organised to celebrate the defeat of Kyotera district’s “bad leaders” in the just concluded general elections.

Fortunate Rose Nantongo (Woman MP-elect), Mpalanyi Lukwago (Kyotera MP-elect) and Patrick Kintu Kisekulo the district chairman among other local leaders attended the event.

The priest threw his congregation into a frenzy when he started off his homily with lines from Kyagulanyi’s “Tuliyambala engule” song before telling them that even without achieving the main aspiration of change at the top, there is something to celebrate about.

“Ultimately, we shall wear the victor’s crown but the victory we registered at the lower levels is part of the victory we sing about in that song. We continue to pray for our colleagues who are in detention, and for victory from the Supreme Court,” Mugisha said.

Kyagulanyi last week filed a petition at the Supreme Court challenging the outcome of the January 14 presidential vote which gave him 35 percent while Museveni who was declared winner polled 58.64 percent.


Like Kyagulanyi, Mugisha too believes that the Electoral Commission (EC) didn’t announce the correct results.

He thus urged the Chief Justice, Alfonse Owiny-Dollo and the eight other justices of Supreme Court who are going to handle Kyagulanyi’s presidential elections petition to be just and put Uganda ahead of any other interests.

“We are unarmed, our only weapon is God. We pray that God enables the Chief Justice to listen to the voices of Ugandans and ensure that Kyagulanyi gets justice,” Fr. Mugisha said.

Without hesitation, he identified himself as part of the efforts to cause a change in the country’s leadership.

“The struggle is still on, and, I want to invite you to be part of it because this is not Kyagulanyi’s struggle but a struggle for us all. Whichever way the [petition in the Supreme Court] is determined, we will push on with the struggle for a new Uganda, a Uganda that will be based on the rule of the law,” the priest told a cheering congregation.

“There are people that have been telling to stop making political comments but I also have a stake in Uganda; I will therefore continue to speak about the government’s excesses because in preaching the gospel, I am required to guide the Christians on issues that not only promote their spirituality but their wellbeing as well,” he added.

He went on to criticise government’s request for Shs 3.48 billion to compensate Medard Kiconco, a businessman behind the eviction of people from their plots of land in Lusanja on the outskirts of Kampala.