Cardinal Wamala Blames Genocide On Poverty

from All Africa

New Vision (Kampala)

By Mathias Mazinga
Kampala

THREATS of war and genocide will be less pronounced if citizens are not extremely poor, Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala has said.

He noted that the many wars in Uganda and the region were a result of economic and political injustices, which have their roots in tribalism and other social ills.

"All social groups should be given the opportunity to participate in the production and consumption of the goods of their country," Wamala said.

"If some people are excluded, they will blame their poverty on that tribe that controls the political and economic machinery, who they believe have denied them their share of the national cake."

The former Archbishop of Kampala was speaking during the 17th Joseph Kiwanuka Memorial Lecture in Kampala last week. When people are impoverished, he added, they will see no value in their life. And because of this, they will not value the lives of others.

"This is why there is a lot of disrespect for life in sub-Saharan Africa."

Kiwanuka, a former Archbishop of Kampala who died in 1966, was the first black African bishop south of the Sahara. He was a key player in the development of the Church and state in the continent and Uganda.

The Cardinal stated that equal distribution of wealth would lead to a strong civil society free of tribalism and hatred.