By Sem. Bob Robert Bigabwarugaba | St Paul’s National Seminary – Kinyamasika | 6th September 2026

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” – Genesis 2:15

When Pope Francis gave us Laudato Si’, he did not write it for Rome alone. He wrote it for Fort Portal, for the banks of River Mpanga, for the slopes of Rwenzori, and for every Ugandan who opens a tap provided by the National Water and Sewerage Corporation. In that encyclical, the Holy Father reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life, crying out, “Laudato Si’, mi’ Signore – Praise be to you, my Lord.”

Uganda is truly blessed.

Churchill was right to call us the Pearl of Africa. Our soils are fertile, our hills are green, our lakes are full. Yet Pope Francis warns us in Laudato Si’ 34 that “many of those who possess more resources seem mostly to be concerned with masking the problems or concealing their symptoms.” Are we not doing the same? We boast of our beauty while our hands destroy it.

Our water is crying, and NWSC cannot save it alone. The National Water and Sewerage Corporation works day and night, from Gaba to Katosi, from Fort Portal to Mbarara, purifying water for our homes, schools and hospitals. But what kind of water do we give them to purify? We dump kaveera and plastic bottles in trenches, we pour used oil into drains, we throw garbage into Nakivubo Channel and into River Mpanga, we encroach on wetlands which are God’s own natural filters. Then we complain that water is dirty and bills are high. As Scripture teaches us, “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you” – Job 12:7-8. If we poison the wetland, we poison our own cup. NWSC can treat water, but it cannot create water. Protecting our catchment areas and respecting wetlands is the true practice of Laudato Si’.

Our land also is groaning, and we must now hear NEMA’s voice. The National Environment Management Authority is not our enemy; it is the watchman God has placed at the gate. When NEMA tells us not to cut trees on the hills, not to burn charcoal recklessly, not to use kaveera, and not to mine sand in Lwera without restraint, it is only echoing the Word of God: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” – Psalm 24:1. Today we see deforestation in Kyenjojo, charcoal scars in Northern Uganda, and the wounds of our hills left bare by greed. Pope Francis says in Laudato Si’ 23 that “the climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.” When we cut one tree without planting two, we steal from our children and mortgage their future.

This is why Uganda’s once-a-month cleaning exercise, Bulungi Bwansi, must be taken as sacred. It should not be seen as a punishment, a loss of business hours, or a mere government program. It is an act of worship, a monthly confession to Mother Earth. For “we know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” – Romans 8:22. Our creation groans under polythene in Lake Victoria, under rubbish along Kasese roads, under plastics choking Katonga. Bulungi Bwansi is our chance to say sorry and to make things right.

Laudato Si’ therefore calls for a true ecological conversion, as Pope Francis writes in article 217. Our faith must move from the pulpit to the pit. A Christian who litters just after Sunday Mass has not understood the Eucharist, which is thanksgiving for creation. A citizen who wastes NWSC water while praying for rain contradicts his own prayer.

What must we do?

We must respect water by not wasting it, by reporting leakages, by protecting River Mpanga and all our local water sources. We must respect the law and guidance of NEMA by refusing to build in wetlands, by carrying reusable bags, and by planting a tree every month at our homes, schools, seminaries and parishes. And we must honour Bulungi Bwansi, making every last Saturday holy. Let priests lead with brooms, let local leaders mobilize, let students march to clean trenches, because a clean village is itself evangelization.

Uganda can still be saved.

Uganda must remain the Pearl. But pearls only shine when they are cleaned. Pope Francis reminds us that “there is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions.”

Let NWSC bring us water, let NEMA guard our nature, but let you and I be the keepers. As Jesus says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” – Matthew 24:35. Let us not let our earth pass away before our very eyes.

Together, let us care for our common home.