President commends members of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church for being honest

President Yoweri Museveni has commended members of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church for being honest.

“The few people I have worked with from the SDA Church are honest. The SDAs are committed Christians,” he said.

He was speaking at the launching ceremony of a fund-raising drive for the construction of the Adventist Tower complex during prayers that were held today at the SDA Church in Makerere, Kampala. The Shs.22.5 billion (US$8.4 million) complex is designed to be a nine storey multi-purpose building that, apart from being headquarters of SDA Church in Uganda, will house conference rooms, guest houses, office spaces, a book store, a boardroom and a gymnasium as well as two church halls, two chapels, among others to generate additional income for the daily financial needs of the Church.

The President commended the members of the SDA Church also for being hard working. Quoting the Bible, he noted that God the Creator said people must establish dominion on earth. He asserted that Africans are poor because they have failed to dominate and tame nature. He, therefore, challenged the people to be diligent in their work in order to master science and dominate nature and cited people use electricity to improve their lives as an example.

President Museveni called for the utilization of the talents that God gave to man, multiply them for their own good and that of society. He said that it was easier for one to work with a person who is honest and rigid than dealing with one who is dishonest.

He donated a Mitsubishi Pajero vehicle to the President of the Uganda Union of SDA Church, Dr. John Kakembo and also contributed Shs.50 million to the Church for its normal activities. He pledged a donation of Shs.100 million towards the construction of the Adventist Tower Complex. He stressed discipline and thanked SDA members for their discipline adding that by maintaining discipline they are capable of achieving a lot.

The Minister of Information and National Guidance, Hon. Rose Namayanja saluted President Museveni for liberating and transforming Uganda as well as for the freedom of worship in the country.

The President of the Uganda Union of SDA Church, Dr. John Kakembo, prayed for the President and thanked him for the grant of Shs.1 billion to the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda. He also expressed appreciation to Mr. Museveni for a grant of Shs.600 million to Bugema University.

He revealed that the SDA Church supports the Government development programmes through the operation of 186 Primary Schools, 34 Secondary Schools, 6 tertiary Institutions and one Ishaka-based hospital in the country. The SDA Church started operations in Uganda in 1927 and according to statistics, its adherents in Uganda constitute about 2% of all Christian faiths in the country.