If you told many people in Kampala that Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa and Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze Bakireke would spend time together in Rome, laughing, taking photographs and attending a papal audience, they might struggle to believe it.
But away from Uganda’s often heated political environment, the two legislators have been part of the same Catholic gathering in the Vatican, highlighting a different side of Uganda’s politics.
Tayebwa, a member of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), and Nambooze, a National Unity Platform (NUP) legislator, are among Ugandan politicians taking part in activities linked to the International Catholic Legislators Network in Rome.
The network brings together Catholic legislators from different countries to discuss public leadership and issues affecting society through the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Tayebwa has previously participated in the network’s meetings. In August 2023, he attended a meeting at the Vatican with his wife and child and presented a gift to Pope Francis.
The current gathering comes as Pope Leo XIV continues to urge Catholic lawmakers to put human dignity, families, peace and responsible leadership at the centre of public life.
In his address to the International Catholic Legislators Network in 2025, Pope Leo said the participants should work towards a world in which people can live in peace, freedom and fulfilment.
For the Ugandan delegation, the meeting also provided an unusual opportunity for politicians from opposing parties to interact outside the partisan atmosphere at home.
Tayebwa and Nambooze have often occupied different political positions. Tayebwa is one of the leading figures in the NRM, while Nambooze is a prominent NUP opposition politician.
Parliament’s current records list Nambooze as the Mukono Municipality MP and Tayebwa as Deputy Speaker.
Their appearance together in Rome therefore offered a reminder that political disagreements do not necessarily prevent Ugandan leaders from sharing religious, social or national interests.
The Ugandan Catholic Parliamentary Chaplaincy was represented in activities by Lucy Akello, the Amuru Woman MP, who belongs to the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). She is the chairperson of the Catholic Parliamentary Chaplaincy.
The Vatican meeting has placed particular emphasis on the family and the role of faith in public leadership. Pope Leo has repeatedly spoken about the importance of families and human relationships, including in his engagement with Catholic legislators.
The Ugandan delegation’s presence in Rome offered a less familiar picture of the country’s political class, with legislators from different parties taking part in the same Catholic activities.
Nambooze, a long-serving opposition politician and Catholic, is a critic of President Museveni and the NRM. Yet her participation alongside Tayebwa illustrates how religious and parliamentary activities can sometimes create space for interaction beyond party politics.
There was interest in the clothing worn by the Ugandan women attending the papal activities, particularly the use of traditional Ugandan dress.
For Uganda, the significance of such meetings goes beyond photographs at the Vatican.
In Rome, at least for the duration of the Catholic gathering, Uganda’s politicians had an opportunity to meet not only as NRM or NUP members, but also as fellow citizens and Catholics.
