Religious Authority and the State in Africa by Cooke Jennifer G.;Downie Richard;

Author:Cooke, Jennifer G.;Downie, Richard;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781442258877
Publisher: ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

ISSUES OF ENGAGEMENT AND OUTCOMES

While religious institutions have held back from engaging the secular authorities on a number of issues of political importance, particularly the most contentious ones such as Uganda’s increasingly poor governance record, there are several areas of national interest where they have played a prominent role. These include the public debates on how best to manage Uganda’s natural resource endowment and the demands for accountability for abuses committed by both sides during the conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army in the north. Most controversially, religious groups have taken the lead in demanding tougher criminal penalties against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, presenting their campaign as a response to a social threat to the Ugandan way of life imposed upon the country by Western donors. The effectiveness of their engagements in these three different areas has been determined to a large extent by the degree to which they align with the priorities of the secular authorities, the executive in particular. Religious groups, in common with other institutions in Uganda, struggle to impose their views on a domineering presidency. For the first two issues, little progress was made because they conflicted with the interests of the government. In the latter case, the executive saw an opportunity to secure a political advantage by riding the bigotry bandwagon. Only later, when international outrage began to have a material impact on donor assistance, did the president try to contain the campaign.

Natural Resource Management

Since large deposits of oil were discovered beneath the waters of Lake Albert in western Uganda, a lively and often contentious public debate has played out about how best to ensure these resources are developed in a way that will lead to sustainable, broad-based economic growth in which ordinary people derive benefit. This issue has assumed national importance because of fears that oil revenues may merely provide an additional source of patronage for a well-connected elite, further fueling corruption. Religious institutions have been at the forefront of these debates, organizing public forums, conducting research, and producing policy papers to inform government policy. A well-regarded paper by the IRCU laid out the argument that oil was a gift from God, which must be used wisely. At stages along the process, religious leaders forged alliances with reform-minded members of parliament, pushing for transparent structures to be set up by the government to manage oil contracts and revenues. These efforts were thwarted, however, when the final version of the petroleum bill gave the energy minister sole authority to grant or revoke oil licenses. It was passed by the National Assembly in December 2012 after President Museveni made clear his support for the bill. Critics of the IRCU accused the organization of failing to follow through on its policy paper and toning down its criticism once the president had voiced his opinion on the matter.35 But although the petroleum bill did not include the robust transparency mechanisms demanded, religious groups and their allies in civil society did succeed in elevating the issue of natural resource management to the top of the political agenda.

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