The now late Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese, Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga was announced dead on Saturday morning.
The cause of the cleric’s death is still unknown. He was found dead in his room Saturday morning, according to a statement from the Archdiocese. His body was immediately taken for postmortem at Mulago hospital as burial preparations kickoff.
Lwanga’s last public appearance, before his demise, was on Friday at the Uganda Joint Christian Council’s Way of the Cross. The event took place near St. Paul’s Cathedral in Namirembe in Kampala.
In his speech on Good Friday, Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga decried continued disappearances, kidnaps, and killings in Uganda and urged the security agencies to respect human rights.
”We are calling on all religious leaders to uphold the spiritual and moral basis of our country, in order to ward off violence, hatred and immoral behaviour,” he said.
Spotlight
In December last year, the Archbishop was in the spotlight for calling for postponement of January 2021 elections.
Addressing journalists in Kampala, Dr Lwanga who appeared with some members of the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) which he chaired suggested that the presidential elections be postponed for three years to contain the spread of coronavirus.
“We know the Constitution says if elections are postponed, the Speaker of Parliament takes over government. Article 259 of the Constitution allows Parliament to amend laws. We are asking Parliament to sit down and amend the Constitution to allow President Museveni to continue ruling and guiding the country during the period of three-year postponement of elections,” Dr Lwanga said on December 24, 2020 attracting public backlash from, especially opposition politicians who accused him of hobnobbing with members of the ruling government.
READ: Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, The life and times of fallen Kampala Archbishop
Later, Dr Lwanga said his suggestion had been misinterpreted by the public before he decried growing cases of misinformation on social media which he said several Ugandans were misusing.
Life threatened
During a sermon on Good Friday in April 2018, Dr Lwanga revealed that his life had been threatened by an anonymous caller who claimed the state had received information linking him to a plot to overthrow the government.
The caller reportedly told him that government had recruited informants within the church’s ‘set up’- who had surrendered information to the president on the alleged plot.
“A few days ago I got a telephone call and on the the telephone you can see the number of the person but it had ‘private’, so I didn’t know [who was calling]. This person had an accent from western Uganda and this is what he told me. That ‘there are many lies being told to the president’. Two, that ‘even members of these organisations have recruited your priests, your sisters, your brothers, even catechists and even seminarians.’ And I said, ‘what?’
“Even this man [anonymous caller] told me last week that be careful my Grace. You might be the next [Janan] Luwum. I said my goodness! If God wants me to die that way, I will. But if I am going to die for wrong accusations, that is criminal. You know for murdering people there are two things; you can shoot a person over what they call character assassination. So some members of ESO, ISO, CMI etcetera, they are character assassinating people and that is not good. But fortunately, those of you who are believers, there is still in a period of lent which are concluding tomorrow…I kindly call upon you to repent and stop telling lies.” Lwanga pleaded.
“I call upon all of you to stop telling lies. Stop misleading our president. Mr President we love you very much and that is why we have been electing you. These people are your enemies. They’re going to make you fail because your mind is poisoned and you act on such information.”
Meeting with president
Days later, President Museveni summoned him to State House, Nakasero where they met and held talks.
“I held private fruitful deliberations with His Grace, the Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese, the Most Reverend Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, at State House Nakasero,” a statement on President Museveni’s Facebook page read.
Born in January 1953, Dr Lwanga was appointed as Archbishop of Kampala on August 19, 2006.
May his soul continue to Rest in Eternal Peace!
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