EDUCATION TO PEACE: A SIGNIFICANT COMPONENT OF THE CHURCH’S MISSION IN UGANDA
Fr. Leonard Ssettaba
Introduction
Peace is God’s gift to humanity, hence a duty to be embraced by all, but what it is and how it
can be realized remains an issue on which there is no consensus. As a result, it has been abused to the
extent that even the perpetrators of violence, conflict and war justify their actions as those aiming at
peace. The prevailing notions of peace are generally negative; it is understood as the absence of war,
which implies its search by force to maintain order and tranquillity.1
This negative conception of peace has marked Uganda as well with a bellicose mentality. Her
history attests to how war and violence became the preferred means to attain justice and political
power, especially between 1971 and 1986 and during the more than 20-year civil war in the North.
Though today the situation is not distressing as in the past, it does not translate into authentic peace
if we consider what is happening in her socio-political structures.
There is need to learn from our history as a nation so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the
past, which demonstrate how war is inadequate a tool in the promotion of peace. We need to make
choices that favour a shift from a negative to a positive understanding of peace. We need to promote
just-peace, that is, seek peace through nonviolent practices, for example, respect of human dignity
and human rights, work for justice and the common good, advance integral human development,
solidarity with the poor, respect for creation, respect of work and the worker, etc.
The Church as a herald of peace is called to announce the Gospel of peace and through her
social doctrine sustain the shift from negative to positive peace founded on truth, justice, solidarity
and freedom. Therefore, this article presents current threats to peace in Uganda’s socio-political
structures and underlines the significance and urgency of an integral education to peace as an essential
part of the pastoral mission of the local Church, especially within the parish setting.
Uganda Today: A Socio-Political Analysis
Uganda has had a long history characterized by peaceful coexistence, coalitions, economic
exchange, but also sectarianism, social exclusion and political violence.2 On the prima facie analysis,
the situation looks peaceful, if by peace we mean absence of war. However, a deeper analysis of her
socio-political structures exposes various threats to peace as we highlight below.
i)
Democratic Governance and Political Transition
Despite the past gains in regard to democracy, the rule of law has been compromised, the
constitution fraudulently amended, government organs weakened and power absolutized in the
president through military force, parliamentary dominance and district-based patronage networks.3
Despite periodic national elections such as the forthcoming 2021 elections, they are not free and fair;
in reality, they are a mere political tool to appease donors. This personalization of power divides the
nation, breeds authoritarianism and corrupt structures that will reverse Uganda’s gains.4
ii)
Human and Civil Rights Abuses
Since the imperative is to maintain the political status quo, the enjoyment of people’s rights and
civil freedoms enshrined in the 1995 Constitution is continuously curtailed. Freedom of speech and
of association are often denied during elections and take the form of intimidation of the opposition,
forceful censure of the media, arbitrary detention, violence and torture. These rights abuses extend
1
Cf. R. MUSTO, The Catholic Peace Tradition, Peace Books, New York 2002, 7.
For an extensive history of Uganda, see S.R. Karugire, A Political History of Uganda, Fountain Publishers, Kampala
2010; R.J. REID, A History of Modern Uganda, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2017.
3
Cf. A.M. TRIPP, Museveni’s Uganda: Paradoxes of Power in a Hybrid Regime, Lynne Publishers, London 2010.
4
Cf. W. MUHUMUZA, “From Fundamental Change to No Change: The NRM and Democratisation in Uganda,” in Les
cahiers d’Afrique de l’est 41 (1) 2009, 25, 40; A.M. TRIPP, Museveni’s Uganda, op.cit., 24-29.
2
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also to the socio-economic sphere.5 Behind many human rights violations is the multi-layered security
apparatus, which has become a tool of repression and a continued militarization of society.6
iii)
Socio-economic Exclusion
Uganda has been progressive and an international success story since the 1990s in the socioeconomic sphere. However, beyond the GDP figures, millions of Ugandans remain excluded: 27%
live in poverty; 9% of the working age are unemployed; 5% of school-going age have never attended
school; 14% of children (5-17 years) are engaged in child labour; only 5% has health insurance; 14%
have no access to healthcare within a 5 kilometre radius; 12% of households have no access to clean
water; 30% have little access to good food; and 3 in 10 households have low dietary diversity.7
Inequality and exclusion remain concretely evident in the widening gap between the rich and
the poor and between regions.8 This has been worsened by the privatization and commercialization
of basic services such as education, healthcare, housing and water and the inequitable access to land,
which has led to the fragmentation of society where certain groups are likely to be socially excluded
or left to receive poor quality services.9
iv) Ecological Crisis
The environment in Uganda is deteriorating at a fast rate mainly because of anthropogenic
reasons: deforestation, encroachment on reserves and wetlands, pollution, poor farming practices,
exaggerated use of plastics etc. These contribute to climate change, extinction of species and lowquality of life for Ugandans. Though Uganda has an Environment Law and is a signatory to
international environment protocols and conventions, the state of the environment is worrying to
ensure Ugandans the right to a clean and safe environment.10 More still, the principal agency in
environmental protection (NEMA) lacks independence, personnel, resources and power to ensure the
effective implementation of environmental laws and policies.
v) Debt Burden, Corruption and Public Spending
Uganda is one of the most corrupt countries in the world ranking 149 on Transparency
International’s Corruption Perceptions Index and loses approximately 250 million US dollars each
financial year due to corruption.11 Corruption has been institutionalized and takes the form of
extortion, undercounter commissions and bribes to win contracts, civil service appointments or to
receive social services and private use of public assets among others.12 Despite the seriousness of this
cancer, many anti-corruption measures and institutions are weak due to lack of political will.13
It is lamentable that such high-level corruption flourishes in a country with a high debt burden.14
Worse still, a considerable portion of this growing debt was not used for pro-people projects, but to
5
Cf. UGANDA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, The 19th Annual Report to the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda, Uganda
Human Rights Commission, Kampala 2016, 139-140.
6
Cf. A.M. TRIPP, Museveni’s Uganda, op.cit., 135-146; R.J. REID, A History of Modern Uganda, op.cit., 92.
7
Cf. UGANDA BUREAU OF STATISTICS, Uganda National Household Survey, UBOS, Kampala 2017, 10-13.
8
For example, the richest 20% claim over half of national income whereas the poorest 20% make only 5.8 percent. Cf.
OXFAM INTERNATIONAL, Who is Growing? Ending Inequality in Uganda, Oxfam Uganda, Kampala 2017, 16-34.
9
Cf. J. WIEGRATZ–G. MARTINIELLO–E. GRECO, Uganda: The Dynamics of Neoliberal Transformation, Zed Books,
London 2018, 163-175.
10
Cf. THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA, National State of the Environment Report 2016/2017, NEMA, Kampala 2017.
11
In the health sector, this is equivalent to 50 state of-the-art district hospitals and 500 Health Centre IVs and in education,
it could finance 100 secondary schools or five universities. Cf. OXFAM INTERNATIONAL, Who is Growing?, op.cit., 67.
12
Cf. A. RUZINDANA–P. LANGSETH–A. GAKWANDI (eds.), Fighting Corruption in Uganda: The Process of Building a
National Integrity System, Fountain Publishers, Kampala 1998, 52-55; C.P. MAYIGA, Uganda: 7-Key Transformation
Idea, Prime Time Communications, Kampala 2016, 202-208; A.M. TRIPP, Museveni’s Uganda, op.cit., 111-120.
13
Cf. R.J. REID, A History of Modern Uganda, op. cit., 279-280; HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, “Letting the Big Fish Swim:
Failures to prosecute high level corruption in Uganda” in https://www.hrw.org (accessed on 7.03.2020).
14
Total public debt as at end of June 2018 stood at UGX 42 trillion, which is an increase of 21.6 percent relative to June
2017. Cf. BANK OF UGANDA, Annual Report 2017/2018, BOU, Kampala 2018, 35; UGANDA DEBT NETWORK, A Snapshot
of Uganda’s Public Debt Trends Report, in www.udn.or.ug.html (accessed on 7.03.2020).
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fund patronage-clientelist networks and growing government expenditure in form of exaggerated
security spending and salary perks for an expanding parliament and cabinet, district and ministerial
officials, diplomats abroad, presidential advisors, presidential rewards and to fulfil the many
unbudgeted presidential promises, which burden the tax payers.15
vi) State and Civil Society Relationship
Uganda’s civil society continues to grow and contributes to social wellbeing, especially in fields
of health, education, agricultural extension services, poverty alleviation programmes, advocacy,
conflict resolution and peace-building. However, the relationship between the state and the civil
society is marred with frictions in regard to regulation, autonomy and funding. These arise from
government’s urge to control these CSOs, especially when they critique government policies or call
for better democratic practices. The state often responds with intimidation, sanctions and fines,
withdrawal of operating licences or stricter regulations.16
The Social Mission of The Church in the Parish Setting
After ca. 60 years of independence, Uganda’s current situation affirms that peace is more than
the absence of war. Despite Uganda being a largely Christian country,17 her socio-political structures
reveal a divide between faith and life in the form of violence, injustices, social exclusion and political
uncertainty. Amidst all this, the Church cannot remain indifferent; though the mission entrusted to
her by Christ was essentially religious, it has socio-political implications (GS, 42). Hence, the Church
in Christ, is called to be a sign and instrument of peace in the world.18
In this context, the local Church is called to steer Uganda on a true pilgrimage of peace beyond
political ideology. She is called to permeate Ugandan society with Gospel values, which will guide
consciences to love and work for peace. Catholic Social Teaching (CST) contextualized in periodic
pastoral letters from the Bishops’ Conference is an applaudable development, but until now, they
have not specifically addressed the crucial role that parishes can play in the Church’s social ministry,
especially through an integral and continuous peace formation programme.
The parish, as a basic community of faith, action and hope, is ideal for peace education. As a
community, it meets Jesus in the Word and Sacraments, is formed in His Gospel and is sent forth to
evangelize and concretely live the social dimension of the faith in families, work places and positions
of leadership. Catholic representation and quality leadership in our socio-political structures cannot
be ensured unless the Church forms her children in nonviolent pathways to peace and the common
good. However, in many parishes the social dimension of the faith is neglected by pastor and flock.
We argue that parish communities based on the Gospel can provide a clear moral vision and
effective action for socio-political transformation. Their well-organized administrative strata (parish,
sub-parish, zones, SCCs and families), leadership (pastor, Executive, Parish Council, Christian
associations and the various committees) and education structures (catechesis, sacramental
preparations, family ministries, schools’ apostolate) provide a reliable mechanism to pilot a Catholicbased education to peace programme. In these structures, the local Church through her commissions
(Doctrinal, Pastoral, Religious Education, Justice and Peace) can construct a practical peace education
programme which incorporates CST within each parish’s catechetical programmes.
We acknowledge that it is not easy to implement a universal peace programme since parishes
differ in members, structures, resources and priorities. However, we are convinced that since peace
is an integral part of the Church’s social ministry, formation to its nature and pathways cannot be left
to the Episcopal Conference and the Justice and Peace Commission; it is a task for all called to live
Cf. A.M. TRIPP, Museveni’s Uganda, op.cit., 181-187; R.J. REID, A History of Modern Uganda, op.cit., 279-280.
Cf. A.M. TRIPP, Museveni’s Uganda, op.cit., 103-104.
17
Recent population updates (2019) put the figure at 40,229,300 inhabitants, of which 39.3 percent are Roman Catholic,
32 percent Anglican, 13.7 percent Muslim, 11.1 percent Pentecostals and others represent small religious affiliations,
traditionalists or those with no religious affiliation. Cf. www.ubos.org. (accessed on 25.02.2020).
18
Cf. John Paul II, Message for the 2000 World Day of Peace, 20.
15
16
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the social dimension of the faith. In this way, the Catholic Church will contribute to the reordering
and restructuring of a Ugandan society based on truth, justice, solidarity and freedom.
Education to Peace in Catholic Social Teaching
CST, especially the Messages for the World Day of Peace (MWDP),19 underlines the divine
roots of peace; it is God’s gift, but it must be accepted, loved and built through human effort. This
necessitates education to values that promote peace.20 The MWDP offer pedagogical insights, which
can be resourceful in constructing a parish-oriented curriculum21 for peace formation so as to form
good Christians and good citizens who promote peace in their quotidian life. Hence, education to
peace cannot be just informative; its true objective is both formative and transformative.22
Content of Education to Peace
The MWDP propose a curriculum of peace basing on the four pillars of peace proposed by
Pacem in terris: truth, justice, love and freedom. Education to peace is first of all education to truth:
about God and the true nature of the human person. Authentic peace must be rooted in God and His
law as a permanent standard that guides human relations and structures. It is at the same time
education to the true nature of the human person created in the image of God, endowed with inherent
dignity, which is the basis of our universal brotherhood and the source of rights and duties.23
Education to peace is also education to justice beyond its contractual conceptions. Justice is not
a human invention and therefore, it cannot be guided by the criteria of utility and profit, but by the
profound identity of the human person. In this sense, education to justice means formation to respect
each person’s due as a subject with rights and the universal destination of the goods of the earth for
present and future generations.24
Education to peace is education to freedom beyond the relativistic conceptions. It is not the
licence to do as one pleases nor the absolutism of the self; rather, it is to live in right relationship with
others, creation and especially with God. It is not freedom from constraints, but freedom to seek the
good and truth and live according to its demands. Hence, it is education to freedom in its transcendent
dimension expressed in adherence to the natural law.25
Lastly, education to peace is education to love as the force which animates people to peace. It
is rooted in God, eternal love and absolute truth and involves education to social life beyond a
relativist understanding of truth, contractual conceptions of justice and liberalist visions of freedom
in human relationships. It is education to forgiveness, dialogue, solidarity and fraternity as brothers
and sisters, people of one family and of equal dignity called to share justly the goods of the earth,
especially in preferential consideration of the poor in our contemporary world.26
Duration and Method of Education
The MWDP affirm that education to peace ought to be a life-long and integral process targeting
the whole person and involving every aspect of his/her life. Hence, it has no clearly demarcated time19
The World Days of Peace, instituted by Pope Paul VI, are an annual invitation to reflect on peace and its pathways
along a chosen theme. Cf. K. HIMES, “Papal Thinking about Peace since Pacem in Terris: The World Day of Peace
Messages, 1967-2013” in the Journal of Catholic Social Thought 11, 1 (2014), 9.
20
Cf. PAUL VI, Message for the 1968 World Day of Peace; JOHN PAUL II, Message for the 1995 World Day of Peace, 2;
BENEDICT XVI, Message for the 2012 World Day of Peace, 2.
21
In the MWDP, there is no ready-made for peace education; they only offer insights about the content, agents, duration
and method, which can work as a starting point in constructing a curriculum fitting the local context in Uganda.
22
It ought to disarm hearts from anti-peace sentiments and form consciences in accordance to moral principles so as to
effect social, economic and political transformation founded on the respect of the dignity of each person. Cf. JOHN PAUL
II, Message for the 1995 World Day of Peace, 2; ID., Message for the 2005 World Day of Peace, 4.
23
Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Message for the 2012 World Day of Peace, 3.
24
Cf. Ibid., 4.
25
Cf. Ibid., 3.
26
Cf. Ibid., 5.
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frame; it is a lived experience, which starts in childhood and sustained gradually throughout one’s
life as the context necessitates.27 However, since the youth form the biggest proportion of the world
population, Pope Benedict XVI calls for a specifically-tailored education to peace targeting the youth
so as to awaken in them the desire to spend their lives in the service of the common good.28
Place and Agents of Education
According to the MWDP, the family founded on marriage is the basic community of life and
love and the first school where children must learn the language of peace. Hence, parents are the first
educators of peace not through issued rules, but through their life example. From them, children learn
values that build peace: respect and esteem for others, dialogue, tolerance, sharing, forgiveness,
humility, honesty, justice, respect for diverse opinions and most importantly the love of God.29
Schools, cultural institutions, religious communities, governmental and non-governmental
organizations and social institutions like the media are secondary agents of education to peace.30 In
this light, no political authority can replace the family’s role of education; its role is to ensure that the
primary and secondary agents exercise their right and duty of formation through concrete assistance,
universal access to education and freedom of parents to choose fitting educational structures for their
children even in religious matters.31
Conclusion
Given our history as a nation and what is happening in our socio-political structures, one might
wonder if there is anything that the Church could do to contribute towards the building of a just and
peaceful Uganda. In this article, we have argued that the promotion of peace is a significant and urgent
part of the Church’s social ministry, a duty she cannot forsake even in the face of frictions within the
Church and State relationship.
As a herald of peace, the local Church cannot remain indifferent amidst continuous threats to
peace. Her prophetic voice on behalf of the poor must be heard, but most importantly she must steer
the transformation of Uganda through an informed and formed participation in the socio-political
structures. Basing on the above insights from CST, she can make her contribution through an integral
education to peace implanted in parish life.
We are convinced that parishes offer a suitable grassroots-setting for the promotion of peace,
but also an avenue to translate CST into praxis so that the Church practices what she preaches. This
can take the form of compassionate pastoral care, empowerment of the poor, just personnel policies,
equal opportunity efforts, respect of gender and ethnic diversity and fair wages as concrete
expressions of lived justice and pathways to peace. It is only in this way that the Church’s social
message will be credible and bring about real transformation of Uganda.
27
Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Message for the 1996 World Day of Peace, 6.
Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Message for the 2012 World Day of Peace, 1.
29
Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Message for the 1996 World Day of Peace, 8; BENEDICT XVI, Message for the 2008 World Day of
Peace, 3; ID., Message for the 2013 World Day of Peace, 6.
30
The school provides moments of encounter with others, helps the young to discover vocations and to develop their
talents. Religious and cultural institutions contribute by giving education to peace an anthropological and ethical basis
other than technical approaches. The media as well in today’s context does not only inform the young, but forms them in
values that promote or curtail peace. Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Message for the 2012 World Day of Peace, 2.
31
Cf. Ibid.
28
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