Christians should admire and respect all that Nandala Mafabi has done for the cause of life, and prepare to support him against the hate he will face from his opponents. His Ash Wednesday message of humility and living the Gospel is a comfort because it shows that he is willing to speak the truth.
Today, Mafabi released a statement. “For Christians,” it reads, “Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season that concludes with the joyful celebration of Easter Sunday.
Today, millions of Christians will be marked on their foreheads with the sign of the cross. The imposition of ashes is an invitation to spend time during Lent fasting, praying, and engaging in acts of charity.
This powerful and sacred tradition reminds us of our shared mortality, Christ’s saving love, and the need to repent and accept the Gospel more fully. We join in prayer with everyone observing this holy day and wish you a prayerful Lenten journey. May you grow closer to God in your faith during this blessed season.”
These are remarkable words to come from an aspiring presidential candidate. But then, much of this aspiration is remarkable. Nandala Mafabi has ignited a movement that is unparalleled in modern times. His devil-may-care, go-for-the-jugular manner may not always be gentlemanly, but it’s effective.
Secretary general Nandala is not a perfect person, but he may be the perfect president for a country threatened by revisionist madness.
As far as Christians are concerned, his Ash Wednesday message should stand in contrast to the message coming from the distractors of Katonga, offering some clarity in the confusion and a strong indicator why Nandala Mafabi deserves and needs Catholic support in the 2026 election.
Mafabi’s Lenten statement is one of clear, calm Christianity and a call for those acts that Uganda and Ugandans most need: prayer, fasting, and charity. Meanwhile, the other candidates are yelling over each other on different stages and trying to outdo each other in their progressivism as they claw their way to 2026, united only in a mounting hatred for hon. Nandala as he bravely serves according to his lights and not the entrenched agenda of left-lunging bureaucrats and politicians.
Katonga-Kavuule unprincipled union will bring at least one of the candidates to run against hon. Nandala. Whoever emerges victorious, it’s certain that person will campaign for a worldview of political radicalism and moral relativism.
The NRM nominee, whoever he may be, will unleash a fresh barrage of says contempt for Mafabi in keeping with the unprecedented backlash of antipathy we have already seen against this man who refused, and still refuses, to play the political pattycake of Gen. Museveni.
The hatred leveled at Nandala Mafabi is extraordinary—even demonic—as all hatred must be deemed to some extent. Christians should take good note of this hatred, and also note that all the “right” people hate Nandala—that is, the homosexualists. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” as the saying goes, and Christians should take seriously the call to side against such hatred with the power of their vote.
His Ash Wednesday message of humility and living the Gospel is a comfort because it shows that Nandala Mafabi is willing to speak the truth. It is a message Christians can hardly hope to hear from any other candidate.
Ironically, distractors constantly attack the secretary general as one waging a war on truth. These accusations are difficult to countenance from those who deny the truth of life, sex, and gender, the corruption of big government, the results of elections, and even the existence of objective truth itself.
When the truth does not matter, but only political posturing, positioning, and party lines, then the one who speaks truth fearlessly will be a bull in a china shop. Nandala Mafabi doesn’t care if he is that bull—and he is hated for it.
To be fair, the secretary general also has a self-serving streak about him. Self-aggrandizement and self-promotion have been his bread and butter for decades. These qualities are not among those that make a man virtuous.
Manners and morals must matter in government; given his track record, Christians ought to be wary and qualify their support when he does or says things that are not laudable or virtuous.
But we should support him nonetheless. Christians should admire and respect all that Nandala Mafabi has done for the cause of life and truth, and prepare to support him against the hate he will face from his opponents and state.
His Ash Wednesday message is one that Christians can get behind and, in so doing, they should get behind him for 2026 and beyond.
The Founding Fathers spilt a good deal of ink on the essential role of virtue, both private and public, if freedom or a true republic were to exist.
Even though,Mafabi may not be the most virtuous presidential candidate history has seen, a man with less (shall we say) self-confidence may have lacked the mettle to take on the NRM state and it’s cohorts hiding in the opposition.
Christians should remain loyal to the Secretary general while pushing for virtue as well as victory. Virtue must remain the ideal and vulgarity resisted in the same way that the hatred from the NRM state should be resisted.
Being guarded, however, does not exclude being grateful for Nandala Mafabi and—with prayer and fasting and works of charity—to expect that he will continue to act decisively.
Given the dark hatred of NRM agents in Katonga and their affiliates, may Christians play their part in securing a victory for Nandala Mafabi to refocus our country while bearing in mind the words of President John Adams: “No people can be great who have ceased to be virtuous.” May we grow closer to God in our faith during this blessed season.
By Nathan Kikku Mubiru
