By Samuel Ssebuliba
Parliament has held Ash Wednesday prayers with a call on Ugandans to be friends of the environment and conserve it.
Addressing the congregation, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda His Grace Stanley Ntagali has said that Uganda is going to be a desert.
He says action must be taken now so that we get more rain and food.
Earlier, former Ethics minister James Nsaba Buturo called for total unity in and out of the House.
He said there is need to be cautious when promoting a certain line of thought in politics, challenging the legislators to stand together against the forces that seek to divide them.
Citing an argument by some people that the Church should not get involved in politics and others saying that no one should speak about what is bedeviling our country, Buturo says the unity of this country must be debated.
Ash Wednesday services are going on at various churches around Kampala including Christ the King, All Saints Cathedral Nakasero and Rubaga Cathedral among others.
Christians across the globe today mark Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent in Christianity.
It occurs 46 days before Easter and can fall as early as February 4 or as late as March 10.
Ash Wednesday is observed by many Christians, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics.
Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of blessing ashes made from palm branches blessed on the previous year’s Palm Sunday, and placing them on the heads of participants to the accompaniment of the words “Repent, and believe in the Gospel” or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”.