Highly placed State House sources told this website that before President Museveni directed his aides to place Dr Paul Ssemogerere the Archbishop of Kampala Diocese on phone to talk him over its preparations to hold prayers for Dr Kizza Besigye and other political prisoners at Lubaga Cathedral, he first made a lot of consultations including comparing intelligence report he received from different intelligence agencies to guide him on the said function.
Ahmed Kateregga Musaazi a veteran journalist and also the Jinja City Senior Resident City Commissioner (RCC) said that intelligence and other security agencies picked interest in these prayers on grounds that powerful mobilization was going on both on social media and other media platforms.
“We knew what all the mobilization was about, we knew what Harold Kaija’s team did to us in 2016 yet he was among the front mobilizers, so to keep the country safe especially at this time, the President did a good thing by suspending the said prayers while he continues to investigate the real agenda behind the prayers,” Musaazi said.
Even though State House is still quiet on the matter, Winnie Byanyima wife to Dr Besigye and the contact who reached out to Dr Ssemogerere for the prayer claimed that on Sunday evening, she received a phone call from the Archbishop telling her that the President had suspended the prayers while he continues to investigate the agenda behind them.
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Byanyima said that she also made a phone call to Museveni to understand why he suspended the prayers and the President confirmed to her that he is still studying the agenda behind the prayers based on the intelligence reports he received.
Salaam Musumba one of the founder leaders of the People’s Front for Freedom (PFF), a political party where Besigye is a supreme leader said that Byanyima posted the bad news on their WhatsApp early on Monday morning and the discussion was huge on how to deal with the situation
“Because the vibe was high, people locally and internationally were prepared for the prayers, I first rubbished the news and went back to my sleep but I was told that the thing was very serious and we needed to brainstorm before any public announcement was made,” Musumba said.
She said that they agreed that before making any announcement, they should first engage Bishop Ssemogerere for guidance to protect him from public attacks because they were very sure that people were going to be charged after receiving that shocking news.
They took a decision as the organizing committee of the said prayers after consulting widely to proceed to Lubaga and engage the bishop before any announcement was made, and he welcomed them to his office where the matter was widely discussed.
“We told our beloved Bishop that we understand the situation he is going through and that we had no issue with him because he gave us the opportunity to pray for our people in the Cathedral but it was stopped by the one with might. He explained to us how he tried to explain to the President that there is nothing sinister in praying for people who need prayers since they have been praying for such people including those in prison,” Musumba said.
She said that they pleaded with the Bishop to be the one who announces the news of suspending the prayers to the public because they were already waiting in the cathedral, “I will not look like a person fighting the government, because I cannot defy the orders of the President,” Musumba quoted the Bishop telling them.
She said that Bishop directed Rev Father Achilles Mayanja the Cathedral Administrator to announce the communication to the church, but he also got lost on the way to church and it is the reason why Byanyima announced the development to the people who were already in the church.
The development comes amidst tension between Museveni government and Catholic church which started after the 2021 general elections
In January, Museveni held a meeting with Bishop Serverus Jjumba of Masaka Diocese who approached him for help after the arrest and detention of Rev Father Deusdedit Ssekabira who was accused of working with opposition strongman Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine) to fight Museveni’s government.
Museveni insisted that Ssekabira had to face the law on charges related to money laundering but he was later released on court bail.
Intelligence sources claim that some elements in the Catholic church are supporting the opposition.
Intelligence sources also allege that the State faces a lot of disturbances from Lubaga Cathedral because during his tenure, Dr Cyprian Kizito Lwanga allowed opposition and civil society leaders to hold meetings without pay at Pope Paul Hotel which is under the Lubaga Cathedral leadership.
On the botched prayers, they claim that Byanyima used her influence being a daughter to Boniface Byanyima a staunch Catholic to mobilize political support for her husband Besigye during the 2001, 2006 and 2011 presidential elections.
“Besigye and Byanyima are politically very calculative, the husband is an Anglican but they were wedded in Lubaga Cathedral. Catholics also wanted to get a first lady from their church. We know Byanyima is underground compromising them to support the political struggle against Museveni,” a source from intelligence said.
Kateregga wondered why the prayers were not held in western Uganda were both Byanyima and Besigye are born from, but Musumba responded by telling him that Byanyima and Besigye’s church is Lubaga Cathedral.
Charles Rwomushana, a former political intelligence officer in State House under Museveni leadership said that the President suspended the prayers because he was scared that Byanyima will use the church to attack his personality and his family as it was done during the prayers organized by Bobi Wine at his National Unity Platform (NUP) headquarters at Makerere Kavule.
“Instead of praying for her husband, Byanyima narrated to NUP foot soldiers how her father saved Museveni’s mother who was being insulted by Dr Milton Obote’s soldiers in the middle of Mbarara town. Museveni and Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba were angered by the statement. And to save bloodshed in the church, the president suspended the prayers,” Rwomushana said.
However other sources said that Museveni was warned that the prayers in Lubaga Cathedral were going to the stepping stone for other series of prayers for Besigye countrywide and it was going to be difficulty to stop them because his government would be portrayed as fighting a certain religious group in the country.
Sources said that security is struggling to contain the masses and avoid any uprising against the government because it may be a spark which can be used by the country’s enemies to intervene under the guise of saving Uganda but targeting to overthrow the sitting government
