Bishop Ocan reminds President Museveni of tractor pledge

By Christopher Nyeko

Gulu: The overseer of the born-again churches in the Acholi sub-region, Bishop James Ocan, is reminding President Museveni of two tractors he pledged last year.

Bishop Ocan disclosed that recently he reminded Gen. Salim Saleh, who is a senior presidential advisor on security and brother to President Museveni, to fulfill his presidential pledge of giving two tractors to born-again Christians in Acholi.

The president made the pledge in August last year while presiding over Pastor Patience Rwabwowgo’s crusade, dubbed Light Up Acholi Land, held at Kaunda Ground in Gulu City.

During the Thanksgiving prayers held recently at Soul’s Gospel Center Ministry in Kapedo-Pong ward, Bardege-Layibi division, Gulu City, Bishop Ocan said he was following up on the unseen presidential pledge.

The Christians are hopeful that when delivered, the tractors will boost food production among the pastors and Christians in Acholi, hence changing the socioeconomic status of the born-again people.

On the other hand, the Bishop Ocan also asked youth in the Acholi sub-region to respect the elderly, saying it was biblical.

He said elders are the categories of people who are in the evening of their lives; their minds are crowded with a lot of thoughts on how the world would be for the younger generation.

‘’So in a bid to give elders hope, courage, and happiness, Soul Gospel Center has taken a proactive approach to restoring lost hope in the elderly by supporting them spiritually and financially and offering them material support through providing them with basic needs like medication, building them accommodation houses, and providing them with assorted foodstuffs, among other necessities,’’ he said.

The bishop faulted the young generation over their failure to support the elderly but frustrated elders by making them die to enable children to inherit the wealth of land that is guarded by elders.

Lamwaka Santa, 63, a chairperson for the elderly at Soul’s Gospel Ministry, applauded the Soul’s Gospel Center for the noble support they offer to the elderly in Acholi.

She noted that some of the elderly who were frustrated by their children are now leaving with peace of mind after being supported by the church.

The government of Uganda, through its Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, is implementing the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment (SAGE, a scheme where older persons who meet the requirement are given a monthly stipend of 25,000.

In 2022, 1.69 percent of Uganda’s total population will be 65 years old.

Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, in one of their initiatives, the National Plan of Action for Older People, of the 5.2 million households, about 16 percent are headed by older people.

Ocan, however, rallies the born-again to position themselves in education, further their studies, join politics, join agriculture, and start livestock keeping so that they can become very influential in their respective societies.

Bishop recalled that in the past, born-again were known as noisemakers. The status quo, he says, must change.

“Embrace hard work, prayers, paying school fees for your children, and extending evangelization to people who have not yet received Christ if they want to transform the Acholi community,” he emphasized.

“I don’t want to hear the parents complaining about paying school fees for their children, simply to pay all your children in school only when they are a hard-working family.”.

During the 2024 Thanksgiving ceremony, Christians donated numerous items, such as mattresses, foodstuffs, iron sheets, plastic chairs, furniture, harvested produce, livestock, and household utensils, among other items, to show their generosity to God.

According to Bishop Ocan, 80 percent of the donations will benefit the elderly, orphanages, needy people, and poor families within the Acholi subregion.

He praised the charity for their generosity, saying that through their donations, the church was able to donate mattresses and food items to many families of the needy in Acholi for the past 13 years.

In 2023, they also built houses for some families, paid up to 150 children in school, and paid medical bills for many people who were unable to clear their own.

63-year-old Lamwaka Santa, a church elder cherry souls gospel center, is always standing with elderly people by giving them basic needs such as food, building their houses, and counseling them.

The 2024 Thanksgiving prayer was presided over by Archbishop Odong Moses, the general overseer of born-again churches in Uganda, who preached transparency to Ugandans.

In his summons, Archbishop Odong urged Christians to emulate transparency in whatever they are doing and refrain from corruption if they want to attract positive spiritual force from God, something he says comes to only righteous people.

Salvation to address GBV

Bishop James Ocan tips men who are being victimized by their women in an act of gender violence but suffering in silence to seek God’s eyes and get to salvation if they want their suffering to end.

He reveals that some men are being denied their conjugal right to food, while others are physically assaulted by their wives.

Ocan says once these men get into salvation, they will be consoled, counseled, and advised by their respective pastors and senior church members who will be frequenting their homes to strengthen them with the worlds of God and take them through family values.

Bishop’s tip came at a time when men in the Acholi subregion were reportedly being harassed by their wives; however, the majority shy away from disclosing it to the public, fearing that they will be stigmatized and laughed at in public.

The most affected categories of men who are reportedly being victims by their spouses are UPDF soldiers, especially those at the ranks of privates, and primary school teachers whose bank cards are allegedly forcefully withdrawn from them and kept by their cruel wives.

Ocan faulted women for abandoning their cardinal role of being submissive and supportive to their partners, but instead, they have resorted to being dependent with a high urge for material things.

Bishop observes that due to unnecessary pressure mounted on men, some men have reportedly turned to a reckless lifestyle to avoid being pressured.

Last year, the Gulu district probation department registered a total of 1,917 cases of gender-based violence. The major causes of GBV were attributed to poverty, drug abuse, and alcoholism, among other factors.

Gender-based violence is violence directed against a person because of that person’s gender or violence that affects people of a particular gender disproportionately.

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