President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has described the annual National Prayer Breakfast as a uniting factor among Ugandans.
“In the USA they were doing exactly what we ought to do, the prayer breakfast brings together all people of different backgrounds. I like the approach because it was like our approach during our struggle,” the President said.
The President made the revelation today during the 25th National Prayer Breakfast held at State House Entebbe, under the theme, “Fear not, repent and serve the Lord”.
The annual event which takes place on the eve of Uganda’s Independence Day celebrations (9th, October), is aimed at praying for the country, economy, and families as well as thanking God for his protection, guidance, and providence to Ugandans. It is also the day when Uganda’s 1995 Constitution was promulgated.
President Museveni, who thanked the Parliament for sustaining the prayer breakfast culture, disclosed that he copied the idea from the United States of America when he went with Maama Janet Museveni to the country for the first time. He said the prayer brought together several leaders in the USA who prayed for their country.
“In the 1960s I was a very active church member; I was the president of the Scripture Union from 1961 to 1965 but along the way, we started disagreeing in the union; one of the reasons was that they were not practicing what Jesus told us to do because Jesus told you clearly to love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as you love yourself,” the President asserted.
“The problem we were having here was the sectarianism of religion; Christians against Muslims, I said what kind of religious people are these? With NRM doctrine, being a Christian doctrine we despise sectarianism. Jesus said we shall see them by their fruits. They were misleading our people,” he added.
President Museveni further thanked the religious leaders in the country for copying the uniting idea of the National Resistance Movement (government), where they decided to form the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) which brings them together for a common goal irrespective of their religious background.
“This Inter-sectoral approach has helped us a lot, Uganda was a failed state but because these people listened to our message, they decided to go for the needs of our people, not their identity. There are still some people who still push that nonsense but fortunately, that is why you see whenever we go to the general elections, we win in the first round because people listened to our message,” he emphasized.
“This message of Jesus is very important- Judge people by their actions, not by their identity and I tell you to stop thinking of politics of identity. That is why I like the prayer breakfast culture; it is a prayer of unity in diversity.”
The First Lady of Uganda and Minister of Education and Sports, Maama Janet Museveni who prayed for Uganda, thanked God for the blessings He has bestowed upon the country.
“We thank you for the growing spirit of unity we see in Uganda and the region at large. We appreciate our President for his steady leadership. We used our President to stand against the immense pressure from the Western world when Uganda signed the Anti-Homosexuality bill into law,” Maama Janet said in the prayer.
“We thank you for the peace and security that we enjoy in Uganda. We thank the great men in the UPDF who sacrifice a lot so that we enjoy the peace we have now,” she added.
The First Lady also called for repentance among Ugandans, explaining that the act does not necessarily mean that someone has sinned, but it can be due to a change of mind.
“May we renew our minds for transparency. We should not just talk about it but we should walk the talk,” she noted.
The First Lady of Kenya, Her Excellency, Rachel Ruto took the opportunity to thank God for enabling Uganda to hold the 25th National Prayer Breakfast, saying that if believers continue to pray, God answers their prayers.
