By Annah Kukundakwe
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni recently noted in his Liberation Day speech on January 26, 2021, that people should leave their religious beliefs at home and not carry them to the office. I am not sure what motivated the president to make this remark but I must note that I am enthused by the fact that the morality whip that is mainly wielded by religious leaders and members of their congregation has proven to be untenable. Those that have been the protectors of the moral fabric of society have also many times found themselves has falling victim to this moral policing too.
A policy is a course or principle of action adopted by the government or executive of a state, intended to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome while Policy-making is the act or process of setting and directing the course of action to be pursued by a government, business or organization. The policy making process entails various phases including stakeholder consultations which are aimed at building consensus around the policy proposals and developing solutions which will work and gain acceptance in practice.
Among the stakeholders engaged in the policy development process are the religious groups who continue to be given a bigger and more resounding platform in these consultative processes. Their views on any given policy is given priority and in some cases these views have been seen to totally derail or stay discussions about development of policies and laws pertaining to critical issues around social, health and even human rights.. A case in point is the National Sexuality Education framework, whose implementation and operationalization has been delayed since its launch in 2018, the Sexual, Reproductive Health Rights policy guidelines and service standards including those for addressing maternal mortality due to unsafe abortion (2015) that were recalled and disowned by the government and the continuous failure of the Marriage and Divorce Bill to move beyond the floor of Uganda’s parliament.
Over the years, the fate of Ugandans especially women and young people has been left to religious groups even in cases where decisions that could impact health and life are concerned. However, the recent happenings in the church which has been rocked by scandal are cause for a rethink of the idea that religious leaders’ views ought to count on matters of health and wellbeing.
The 1995 Constitution recognizes Uganda as a secular state and although religious freedom is also recognized by the same constitution, it appears that there is a general trend to elevate religious teachings and dogma over and above what is demonstrably reasonable and, sometimes in opposition to science. Religious leaders therefore enjoy unfettered power (unwritten though it is) and influence over our country’s policy-making processes.
In my view, the reason why religious groups have enjoyed unchecked power over the different aspects of the lives of Ugandans is because these groups and their institutions have been protected by the dogma of infallibility; that they cannot do wrong including on moral grounds. There are other factors that have consolidated the importance of their opinions on all aspects of life (even issues that would be deemed personal) of Ugandans. These include; aspects like owning majority of private and some public schools and health care facilities in the country. Noteworthy is also the history of Uganda where there has been a strong interconnection between the church and state and this has been carried on in many facets of life. It is this moral authority that they wield and use as a bargaining chip and in some cases even emotional blackmail in discussions where there are technical people and data that indicates a contrary approach should be adopted.
These stagnated policies, laws and interventions have far reaching effects on the lives of Uganda’s citizens. For instance, owing to moral objections on young people’s exercise of their agency regarding their Sexual, Reproductive Health Rights through an enabling policy and legal framework, young people continue to grapple with enormous challenges regarding their sexual and reproductive and health because they are unable to receive information on the same. This has had far reaching impact on their lives, including school dropout and loss of lives. Women also continue to die due to preventable causes like unsafe abortion.
There is no doubt that Sexual, Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) continue to be among the most controversial and contentious topics in Uganda’s legal, policy, and social environments. This is in part due to religious debates. SRHR issues like family planning, sexuality education, adolescent health, teenage pregnancies, unsafe abortion, maternal mortality and morbidity, gender-based violence, sexual abuse and child marriages, continue to constitute a serious public health and human rights threat to women and young people.
I implore the newly elected Members of Parliament (MPs) and officers in the various key ministries to endeavor to steer clear of moral shackles when developing public policies or when passing laws to regulate public and social issues. There is no doubt that people are entitled to their moral and religious beliefs, however, given the subjective nature of these, it is unfair for these parameters to be applied across a wide spectrum of issues that affect persons from different social, geographical, economic and even religious backgrounds. This means that from the onset, there is an unleveled playfield and an attempt to level this playing field via law and policy based on among others, subjective moral standards is erroneous. Let us look to data and science to cure the ills that plague our country, that way our development goals will remain relevant and attainable.
Annah Kukundakwe, an advocate for Sexual Reproductive Health Rights is an Advocate and Program officer at Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD).
