"
Fellow Citizens:
We have been along that memory lane before. Remember Idi Amin's State
Research Agents. The pretty much monitored most of the church organizations
in Uganda. People like Arch Bishop Jonani Luwum were framed on fictitious
charges by Idi Amin's henchmen and murdered.
In the long run, no amount of intelligence gathering from Amin dictatorship
stopped Amin's departure when the time came for him to do so!
Matek
Security to Monitor Churches
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New Vision (Kampala)
November 7, 2002
Posted to the web November 8, 2002
Geoffrey Kamali
Kampala
NATIONAL intelligence agencies are to widen their scope of operation
countrywide to counter growing threats to national security.
As one of the new measures, churches and religious sects will have to submit
their working programmes to district security chiefs for monitoring.
This was one of the recommendations adopted by a workshop on intelligence
sector medium-term strategic planning held at Hotel International in Muyenga,
Kampala on Tuesday.
The measures follow a report by a Makerere University lecturer, Prof.
Byaruhanga Akiiki, saying religious extremism was a big threat to security.
"Religious extremism is no longer the same. These days, some people commit
crimes in the name of religion to satisfy their egos," Prof. Akiiki said.
The workshop was to assess current and potential threats and plans to counter
them in the next 15 years.
Muruli said various religions had in the past contributed to insecurity in
the country. He said the LRA chief, Joseph Kony, had manifested himself in
various forms of religious extremism.
"When he started, he picked spirits from Kilak Hills. When he went to Sudan,
he called himself Yusuf Muhammad Kony. Now, he is traditional, catholic and
muslim," the minister added.
NGOs and industrialists will also be monitored.
