wfn.org | Uganda President met Adventist World Church Leader

[Christian B. Schäffler (APD Schweiz)]

May 15, 2005
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief APD
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Schweiz

Uganda President Museveni met Adventist World Church Leader; 
University Sabbath Resolution Pledged 

Kampala/Uganda. Uganda President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni said 
his government will "see what we can do" to resolve Sabbath, 
or Saturday, scheduling conflicts faced by more than 300 
Seventh-day Adventist students at the country's Makerere 
University, the nation's leading public tertiary school. 

"I will consult and we will see what we can do to resolve 
the issue," President Museveni said during a May 9 meeting 
with Pastor Jan Paulsen, world president of the Adventist 
Church, who is on his first visit to Uganda. The state 
president said he would instruct the university's chaplain 
to investigate the matter. 

The situation at Makerere -- one of Africa's most renowned 
institutions -- came to a head in October 2003, when Uganda's 
Constitutional Court dismissed an appeal filed by three 
Adventist students claiming the school was infringing on 
their religious rights by scheduling classes and exams on 
the Sabbath. Although the Adventist Church operates its own 
university at Bugema, Uganda, church leaders assert that 
because Makerere is a public university, its facilities 
and schools should be open to all eligible students since 
their families provide taxes to support the institution. 
Adventist colleges and universities in East Africa do 
not yet have schools of law, medicine or veterinary 
medicine, these leaders note, and Adventists who wish to 
enter these professions must attend other universities. 

After the visit, Paulsen called his talks with President 
Museveni "significant and worthwhile." 

Museveni told Pastor Paulsen that he attended an 
Adventist elementary school near his home village of 
Ankole in Western Uganda. 

Before presenting a gift to the head of state, Paulsen 
prayed for the president as well as the Ugandan people. 
According to a statement released by Museveni's office, 
Paulsen also expressed hope that the Adventist Church 
in Uganda would work with the government to help 
eradicate poverty. 

Earlier, the Adventist leader told the media he was 
happy to visit the East African nation, which he called 
a "long overdue" trip. 

"I lived and worked in Africa for more than six years, but 
this is my first visit to the country of Uganda," Paulsen, 
said at Entebbe Airport on May 6. "And I have been looking 
forward to it. I'm sure the smiling faces of my spiritual 
family will also reflect the beauty of the countryside." 

Paulsen explained, "The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a 
religious community primarily present to enhance the 
quality of life of individuals; we are not a political 
body. The church is heavily involved in [Ugandan] education. 
There are some 118 primary schools, 24 secondary schools and 
one university at Bugema. We are also involved in health." 

Paulsen continued, "the church has established a HIV/AIDS 
office in Africa, in Johannesburg, because it wants to assist the 
community in the fight against the disease. And I want to commend 
the government of Uganda for leading the way in addressing the 
problem and in many ways the government has become a model for 
other countries." 

Visiting the Adventist secondary school at Bugema, Paulsen 
dedicated a new library which was named in his honor. 

"A library is such an important place where minds can soak in 
knowledge like a sponge and develop and mature intellectually," 
he said. "It is perhaps the most important part of any school." 

At the Bugema Seventh-day Adventist University where 1,500 
students are enrolled, Vice Chancellor Elisha G. Semakula 
officially welcomed Paulsen in a crowded chapel filled with 
faculty and students. 

Paulsen's address encouraged the students in their scholastic 
endeavors to graduate and to "make society and the world a 
better place. Use your knowledge for the greater good." After 
the welcome, Paulsen was invited to participate in the 
groundbreaking ceremony for a larger chapel to be constructed 
there. 

On Sabbath, or Saturday, May 7, Paulsen was the main speaker 
at a united worship service held in Nambole Stadium in 
Kampala. More than 30,000 Adventists turned out, a showing 
that was a first, church member Moses K. Kibirige said. 

After singing by a number of groups including a mass choir of 
more than 300, Paulsen's sermon contained an appeal to church 
members to live in harmony with one another, to forgive one 
another, to be peacemakers and to build up and strengthen 
each other. [Editor: John T.J. Banks for ANN/APD]