Election officials in Uganda have rescheduled a national election following a public protest by local leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Election officials in Uganda have rescheduled a national election following a public protest by local leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Originally set for Saturday, February 16, the election has been brought forward to Thursday, February 14. The change of date heads off plans by Adventists in Uganda to hold a peaceful street demonstration to draw public attention to their plight.
People of faith should not be excluded from public life simply because government agencies fail to accommodate religious practices, such as Sabbath-keeping, said Adventist leaders at a press conference January 22.
“A peaceful protest would tell the world that we are being marginalized as a church and as a people,” says John Wani, president of the Adventist Church in Uganda. He explains that Adventists, who keep Saturday as a holy day, encounter problems not only at the polls, but in other aspects of public life as well. “As far back as 1997, our students in government institutions of higher learning have had the same problem, with examinations and lectures scheduled on Sabbath. We have repeatedly appealed to the government and to heads of those institutions to accommodate our students, but to no avail.”
This most recent incident has generated widespread support for Sabbath-keepers within Uganda’s faith community, says Wani. Following the extensive media coverage of the Adventist protest, “many people, including Catholics, Anglicans, and even Muslims, rang our office [and said] they would march with us if we announced the day and time for them to assemble.”
According to Wani, one caller suggested that marches be held in cities across Uganda to “march in support of the brave Adventist spirit, for the benefit of all faiths.”
“Before we went to the street, the Electoral Commission rescheduled the dates of the election—thank God,” says Wani.
Although thankful for this latest reprieve, Wani says that there is still a long way to go before Uganda’s approximately 120,000 Adventist Sabbath-keepers receive adequate public accommodation. “We appeal to the community of faith to pray for us in Uganda,” he says, “especially for our students who are being persecuted in universities and colleges.”
