Did NRM Deliberately Punish The Catholic Church in Kabale And Why?

Kabale District has always been known as a district of deep faith, peaceful coexistence, and strong political participation and for decades, the Catholic Church has stood not just as a place of worship but as a moral compass, a voice for justice, and a unifying force among the people. 

Through development projects like which includes hundreds of primary, secondary and vocational education institutions, including St Ignatius University and tens of health facilities including Rushoroza Hospital, the Catholic Church has immensely contributed to the development of Kabale District and Kigezi as a whole. 

However, today, the Catholic Church in Kabale feels wounded, humiliated, and deliberately sidelined—and the pain is no longer whispered in church corridors. It is spoken openly in homes, markets, and villages across Kabale and Kigezi. 

A growing section of believers and ordinary residents say what is happening is not politics as usual. To them, it feels like a targeted assault on the Catholic Church, orchestrated through state machinery, security officials, and individuals wielding influence in the name of the ruling NRM government. 

At the center of these accusations is the Presidential Advisor on Agriculture and Local People, Ms Peace Rugambwa, whose actions many residents believe have deepened religious divisions rather than healed them.

The January 15th general elections left scars that may never heal unless something is done and all Catholic candidates contesting for parliamentary seats in Kabale District were defeated—an outcome that many locals, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, say defied logic, numbers, and the will of the voters. 

In villages and parishes, the belief has taken root that these losses were not accidental but engineered to weaken and humiliate the Catholic Church and its followers.

Kabale Municipality Msmber of Parliament Dr Nicholas Thaddeus Kamara (PFF), Woman MP Catherine Atwakiire Ndamira (NRM), Ndorwa East MP Wilfred Niwagaba (Independent) LC 5 Chairperson Nelson Nshangabasheija are among the major victims of the recently concluded elections. In Rubanda, Catholic candidates were too defeated 

These candidates were genuinely leading and were expected to win, but state inspired violence on polling day, ballot stuffing,  intimidation, and arrest of their polling made it difficult for them to get victory and the scheme to isolate the Catholic church in Kabale started during NRM primaries when all Catholic candidates were targeted through rigging. 

The religious humiliation against the Catholic Church has now spread from Kabale to other neighboring districts and for example, in Rukiga District, all the two MPs, Dr Sylvia Alinaitwe and Patrick Katabazi and LC 5 Chairperson Simon Mutebi, are Anglicans, while in  Rubanda District only Minister Henry Musasizi survived, therefore, of the nine MPs in the greater Kabale, only two are Catholics, of which one Dr Protazio Begumisa of Ndorwa East is accused of being fronted by the Anglican church.

To many in Kabale, this was not just electoral malpractice—it was a message: that Catholic voices no longer mattered it had no space in the NRM.

However, this remains surprising given the support that the church gave to NRM right from the bush days when the Anglicans were in bed with the UPC. Bishop Barnabas,  Rev Fr Pius Tibanyendera and Fr Gaetano Batanyenda supported NRA during the bush immensely to the risk of their lives and also prominent Catholics like Banada Mirembe, Late Isidoro and Ndamba were abducted never to be seen again because of supporting NRM during the bush struggle. 

Now one wonders how NRM which preaches against politics of identity could deploy the army and its personnel to humiliate Catholic candidates?

What has hurt most, residents say, is the silence from President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. In the eyes of the faithful, his silence feels like consent.

 “Who appointed Rugambwa?” asks Betty Tumukuratire of Kyanamira. “It is Museveni. That means he knew—or chose not to know—what was going to be done to my church.” 

Her pain mirrors that of many others who now openly declare they will never again vote for President Museveni unless he intervenes to restore dignity to the Catholic Church in Kabale.

Former catechists, elders, and lifelong NRM supporters speak with bitterness and tears. Sipiriano Baturwakyi recounts scenes of violence and intimidation, he says, were directed at Catholic candidates and their supporters in full view of senior district officials. 

“When people appointed by the President tell goons to beat and kill our leaders, and nothing happens to them, what message are we supposed to take?” He said.

For him, and many like him, that message has translated into total rejection of the NRM ticket.

Others, like Sophia Turyahebwa of Kiniogo, have lost faith not just in a party but in the entire electoral process. Being told in advance that her vote would not matter broke something deep inside her.

 “Why organize elections if the winners are already chosen?” she asks, echoing a question now heard everywhere in Kabale.

Residents like Letivah Tumuhurwe, this was no coincidence but a calculated move to pave the way for manipulation. To them, it confirmed a painful belief: that democracy in Kabale had been sacrificed, and Catholic candidates deliberately pushed aside.

Perhaps most alarming are claims that some officials openly declared that no Catholic would be allowed to win any parliamentary seat in Kabale and whether spoken in jest or intent, such words have fueled resentment and fear and Simon Peter Mujuni said the humiliation has gone beyond politics.

 “You cannot humiliate me and my Church and then expect my support,” he says, adding that even government programs can no longer buy silence where dignity has been trampled.

As disputed results continue to circulate—alleged narrow victories overturned, declaration forms missing, pre-ticked ballots sneaked in—the sense of injustice deepens.

 The Catholic community feels besieged, and religious tolerance, once taken for granted in Kabale, now feels fragile.

Voices like Gideon Ansimire warn that unless President Museveni intervenes decisively—by removing Peace Rugambwa from Kabale, reining in biased RDCs, and restoring confidence in the Electoral Commission—the district is headed for dangerous divisions and what begins as political anger could easily harden into religious tension, with consequences far beyond Kabale.

For the NRM, this is not a small local grievance. Kabale has long been a strategic support base and alienating a church that commands deep loyalty and moral authority risks more than lost votes; it risks breaking the social fabric that has kept the region stable. Faith, once wounded, does not forget easily.

President Museveni still has a chance to act—to listen, to heal, and to reassure a hurting community that no Church, no faith, and no citizen is above or below the law. If he chooses silence, however, the wounds will fester and in Kabale, many are already saying that the cost of that silence will be paid at the ballot box—and in the fragile peace between faiths.