From the full article: He is confident and does not compromise his integrity ... The award came with $25,000 (sh50m), which he used to start the renovation of the office building at Namirembe.

Twenty-five thousand dollars would have purchased a lot of food for the starving Anglicans in his province. But, he chose to make his office more comfortable. That speaks much about his integrity.

Thanks for posting this article, Jim, you do us all a great service.

--James Holloway

More of the "so much money" from sympathetic "conservative" westerners that Orombi hymns in his Anglican TV interview?

Roger Mortimer

We appreciate Kevin O'Connor's unrelenting concern for the intolerably high level of corruption in Uganda. Such pressure is needed to keep our leaders honest. What perplexes us is his seemingly unrelenting disdain for our beloved Archbishop, Henry Luke Orombi, for it is no secret that Kevin O’Connor has a deep contempt for the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda.

If you only read Kevin O’Connor’s Roving Eye articles, you would think that Archbishop Henry Orombi has never uttered a word against corruption, which, of course, is not true. Why has O’Connor never praised Archbishop Orombi when he has repeatedly condemned corruption in this country?

Is Kevin O’Connor aware of Archbishop Orombi’s call to the church to repent of corruption during this year’s season of Lent? “We the Church, have a burden to repent and renounce the greed, corruption, and selfish ambition that plague our nation.”

Is Kevin O’Connor aware of Archbishop Orombi’s support for creating a culture in Uganda of zero tolerance on corruption and graft? At the consecration of Bishop Patrick Kyaligonza in Fort Portal on 22nd February, Archbishop Orombi said, “The Bible says, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” (2 Th 3.10) But, we have turned it around to say, “a man eateth where he worketh.” We are the ones keeping ourselves in poverty and we encourage you [Your Excellency] to not give up your efforts to rid our country of the corruption that is killing us.”

Is Kevin O’Connor aware of Archbishop Orombi’s plea to the President for transparent use of funds for the resettlement of the displaced people in Northern Uganda? “We want to appeal to you [Your Excellency] to ensure that the funds that have been designated for the resettlement of our people in Northern Uganda actually reach the people. Our people need to be able to go to their homes and have confidence in their security.”

Is Kevin O’Connor aware of Archbishop Orombi’s tireless efforts to ensure the smooth and timely transition of Bishops in the Church of Uganda’s Dioceses as a way to model the possibility of peaceful transitions of leadership for others in our country?

There are countless other times when Archbishop Orombi has spoken against corruption, called the Church to model transparency, and worked behind-the-scenes to dismantle an ingrained, systemic culture of corruption. It is nothing less than character assassination to lob such personal – ad hominem – attacks on someone who is so undeserving of them.

As an economist, Kevin O’Connor should know that it usually takes money to make money. Neither the Church of Uganda nor Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi commissioned New Vision to run their four-page supplement on the Archbishop’s 5th anniversary. Nevertheless, we are grateful they did.

We are grateful for the organizations who spent money to give visibility to a godly leader we believe others should emulate. The money they spent will not be wasted; their adverts are an opportunity for the general public in Uganda to be informed about the good work of these organizations.

Who knows? Perhaps some Ugandans might even sponsor a Compassion Child because of their advert, or give scholarships for vocational training at Bbira Vocational Training School, or support UPMB’s healthcare initiatives. When All Saints’ Cathedral celebrated Archbishop Orombi’s 5th anniversary, money contributed went directly to a scholarship fund for girls at Uganda Christian University. That alone makes celebrating a 5th anniversary worthwhile.

Unfortunately, the mainstream media tends to focus on negative issues and personalities. You will rarely read articles that praise honest, transparent, righteous, and godly people. In order to get these stories out, one has to buy advertising space to do it. Sad, but true.

We believe our current Archbishop, Henry Luke Orombi, is a positive leader of influence and his leadership is good news worth telling. Why should we wait until his retirement or death to praise him? Why not do it while he is still alive? Why not leverage a 5th anniversary milestone for the exposure and benefit of the church and organizations giving valuable service to Ugandans?

Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye
PROVINCIAL SECRETARY
Church of Uganda
(Letter to the Editor, Sunday 29th March 2009)

A story is captured in the Gospel of John 12:1-11, in which Judas Iscariot raises very strong objections (v.5) about Mary (bad manners!) anointing Jesus' feet with very expensive Nard oil (worth one year's wage/salary). What Judas does not comment about is why Mary and Martha are hosting Jesus to this dinner. The dinner was not cheap. The reason for the Dinner, I want to guess was: Lazarus is back to life, by the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Kevin O'Connor is not happy with the Christians of Church of Uganda spending their own (not from Church Treasury) Shs12m at a dinner and producing pictorial evidence of the work that has been done under the Archbishop. What the pictures did not bring is how many people have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, how many lives have been touched and transformed through the Archbishop's tireless effort of traversing the Country, and globally. Mr O'Connor, how much would that cost? What about the Church of Uganda's UCU University, the Schools and hospitals, etc, around the country meant for children of the poor, the Church's physical presence with the people in Northern Uganda throughout the tragic 23 years of war. How many times has the wonderful O'Connor visited the HIV/AIDS affected and infected, and give them hope for the next day.

The Lord's reaction to Judas is very telling: John 12:7-8 Jesus said, "Leave her alone...You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me." For how long will Henry Luke Orombi be with the Ugandans?

Note John12:11 -- "for on account of him (Lazarus) many of the Jews (say Ugandans) were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him". The Church of Uganda, which Archbishop Orombi heads, has paid the price of blood, as the cost of Justice and poverty. Kevin could visit Namugongo which is very near, or he could travel to Mucwini where Archbishop Janani Luwum's is buried and this may awaken him to the reality of Church of Uganda's contributions to the affairs of Uganda.

Kevin and your followers, it was not just eating and drinking! We would not waste Church resources on that! It was a moment of accountability – What has the Archbishop done in 5 years of leadership of the Church? What else is left for the next 5 years? It was an extraordinary event in Church of Uganda history!

In conclusion, there are similarities for drawing a parallel: Mr Judas O'Connor, for ease of comparison with the Bible character (Judas Iscariot); The events (dinner) are very similar: Dinner in honor of Jesus Christ; Dinner in honor of Archbishop Orombi; the objection is about personal money on a public function for a just cause. The difference is in the comparison of the Archbishop to Jesus. He is not Jesus, but Jesus' Servant. He deserves a thank you and a commendation. Why has O'Connor not talked about some serious spending of over shs200m for somebody's wedding reception or some other National celebration to commemorate something that has never been done. Why the Church and its Archbishop?

As a result of that Dinner many got to know the Church of Uganda and its leadership better.

Mr. Richard Obura
PROVINCIAL TREASURER
Church of Uganda

please don´t forget to note the glory and personal integrity of +Orombi is so great that he and his accomplices have been thrown out of Episcopal Church properties by the California Supreme Court (unfortunately they couldn´t be bribed).

Oh, did we mention the ¨witch hunt¨ against LGBT Anglicans/Christians and others currently underway in Uganda by Church and STATE?

Initiating violence, persecution and thievery against fellow Christians isn´t what WE have been called to ¨do¨ at The Body of Christ...no matter how thick the tabloid it won´t be thicker than the propaganda being spread at the fifth anniversary of demeaning fellow human beings...praise is for God, not for self-righteous and grandstanding Churchmen who demonize others at The Anglican Communion.

Re Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye's spokes-flack PR response, above: *LOL*

Fr. Mwesigye: to get out of the bottom of a hole, the First Rule is---stop digging!

JC Fisher

I have a genuine question. Why do the people on this website not like our Archbishop? When the people on this website write articles or post comments, especially about our Archbishop or provincial staff, I get the impression that they think they know better than we do. I thought Christians were supposed to respect the dignity of every human being, but the writers and comments are very demeaning to us Ugandans and it reminds us of the way our Colonial masters used to treat us. I thought the church had progressed beyond this point. This website is very depressing to me because of its tone and the way it represents Africans. As I said, this is a genuine question. How can a church website, especially one that seems to be so progressive, be so patronising of my people?

Kembabazi

(editor's note: Kembabazi, you need to leave us your real name next time.)

I think you mistake who the colonialists are here. Your archbishop is given his walking orders by Stephen Noll, Alison Barfoot and other priests whose ministries are funded by wealthy Americans who seek to use the vitality of the Ugandan church to advance their own political agenda in US and Anglican Communion politics. He may not realize that he is an agent of the far right wing of the Republican party here in the US, but he is. Additionally, it is ironic for your to ask about the dignity of every person because the glue that holds together the movement the archbishop helps to leads is the persecution of homosexuals. Finally, what we has been said here about the archbishop is nothing compared to what he had his friends have said about faithful gay and lesbian Christians.

Upon reflection, "is given his walking orders by" is probably too strong. "Is heavily infuenced by" may be closer to the point.

Kembabazi IS my real name, which just shows how much you do not know about Uganda.

Kembabazi

[Editor's note: Our apologies. Someone with a different name is also posting from this isp.]

Kembabazi IS my real name, which just shows how much you do not know about Uganda.

Kembabazi

Dear Kembabazi,

Would you care to tell us more about the ¨witch hunt¨ and anti-LGBT Conference initiated by the Ugandan Government, your Minister of ¨Morals and Ethics?¨ All propaganda, again, directed against LGBT Anglicans/others? The Christian love of Ssempa, Buturo, Langa, Orombi, and various other abominators of LGBT Christians/others is of YOUR OWN, UGANDAN, doing...you IMPORT AMERICANS such as Scott Lively to validate your hate campaign against your own people...stop blaming others for the destruction that YOU DO to ONE ANOTHER in culturally damaged Uganda...you actually IMPORT excuse making foreigners to try and validate your lack of National integrity!

Now a word, from Gay Uganda regarding how Orombi and others ¨Love the Sinner¨,

¨This is the kind of love that this sinner would rather do without. The love of Ssempa, Buturo, Langa, Orombi, and various others. Christians, who hate the sin of homosexuality, but love us homosexuals...¨

...I think it is the bare faced hypocrisy that touches me. I don’t mind a person saying he hates me. Me, as in a homosexual. I am what I am. Someone may say that he hates me because I am black or a nigger. I will shrug it off. I don’t love everybody. Hell, I am also prone to prejudice!

But when someone puts a knife in me, and starts splitting hairs on how the hate that he or she shows is in truth love, I see red...¨ read it all, straight from on the ground in Uganda:

http://gayuganda.blogspot.com/2009/04/loving-sinner.html

Re your mention above of Stephen Noll, Noll has published his observations on the latest Covenant draft on his web-page. "..... there is no future for a vibrant and coherent Anglican and Christian body that includes The Episcopal Church (TEC) and Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) as they now exist."

http://www.stephenswitness.com/2009/04/ridley-cambridge-draft-appreciation.html

Roger Mortimer