Ugandan Catholic Diocese Observing Five-Day Prayer for Victims of Secondary School Attack

On June 19, the Uganda Police Force Commissioner announced the arrest of 20 suspected collaborators of the ADF rebels allegedly involved in the June 16 nighttime attack.

Fred Enanga said that the director and headteacher of the school located near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), were among those arrested.

In his June 20 statement, Bishop Kibira says security forces in the East African nation are investigating if ownership disputes at the school could have had a hand in the attack.

The police, the Catholic Church leader say, “are also following up clues that the suspected ADF remnants have collaborators in the area to guide the attack.”

In his statement, Bishop Kibira faults security agencies in Uganda for not intensifying “intelligence operation plans to timely detect and neutralize the attack.”

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He explains, “A week before the attack, there was a reported attack that claimed lives in the popular Domene village in the DRC, forcing dozens to cross to Uganda for refuge at the Catholic Shrine in Kabuyiri in the Diocese of Kasese.”  

The DRC attack, the Catholic Bishop says, “would have worked as a warning to the Ugandan security forces about a possible invasion by the enemy in the neighborhood.” 

He calls on President Yoweri Museveni-led government to invest in ”Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to monitor border points for the safety of lives and property.” 

The Ugandan Catholic Bishop who has been at the helm of Kasese Diocese since his Episcopal Ordination in July 2014 also urges the government to “encourage institutions to install CCTV cameras to intensify security.”

He further calls for “more sensitization to familiarize the community more with the Ugandan forces.”

“People saw the bandits but mistook them for UPDF (Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces) and alerted no one until the attack,” Bishop Kibira says, emphasizing the need to familiarize the people with Ugandan security agencies.

He continues in his June 20 statement, “As a church, we appeal for dialogue and peace talks. The people of God are innocently shedding blood. We teach people to love humanity.”

Earlier, members of the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) condemned “in the strongest terms” the school attack.

In a statement circulated Monday, June 19, IRCU members who include re include representatives of the Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC) said that such “acts of terrorism, lawlessness, and extreme violence” are against the Holy Scriptures and the Constitution of Uganda, which foster the sanctity of human life. 

The religious leaders implored the Ugandan government to reach out to the families of the bereaved and victims of the attack with essential support and supplies.

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Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.