The Church of Uganda Archbishop, His Grace Dr. Samuel Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, has asked Christians to preserve and have faith in God amidst the high cost of basic items such as fuel and food prices.
He was preaching to the congregation during his pastoral visit to St. Mark’s Church, Entebbe Archdeaconry on Sunday. The Archbishop explained that the harsh economic times are God’s way of reminding the faithful to trust in him, lean on him, and not focus on other things such as money and entertainment.
The Uganda Bureau of Statistics-UBOS reported that between April 2021 and April this, prices of several commodities increased by over 20 percent. Cement prices increased by 28%, maize flour prices increased by 25%, diesel prices increased by 37%, cooking oil prices increased by 57%, and laundry soap prices increased by 82%.
A kilogramme of maize flour increased from an average of 2,500 to over 3,000 in July, while a bar of one kilogramme of soap increased from Shillings 3,500 in December to over 6,000 in July, and a litre of diesel and petrol increased from less than 4,000 to more than 6,000 in recent months.
But Archbishop Kaziimba said the faithful must not give up and must believe in only God to get through the hard and good times. He reiterated the need to empower the boy child because most of the efforts by the government and private players have been on the girl child.
He also wants more involvement of men and boys in church activities.
During his pastoral visit to Entebbe, Kaziimba opened the offices of the Archdeaconry, which are next to the church and the children’s church. The Venerable Canon John Gitta Kavuma, the Archdeacon of St. Mark’s Church, Namate-Entebbe Archdeaconry, lauded Kaziimba for visiting and interacting with the worshippers.
Entebbe Archdeaconry comprises seven parishes, including St. Mark’s, St. John’s, Jjungo, Nkumba, Nankinga, Ssese, and Kitende. The Rt. Rev. Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira, the Bishop of Namirembe Diocese, lauded Kaziimba for visiting Entebbe Archdeaconry.
He, however, called on him to also visit the Ssese parish in Kalangala district, which neighbours Entebbe municipality. Entebbe is one of the six archdeaconsries that make up Namirembe Diocese and is considered unique because its parishes are both on land and on the Lake Victoria islands of Ssese in Kalangala.
