Butembo-Beni, 14 December, 2023 / 5:32 pm (ACI Africa).
Bishop Melchisedec Sikuli Paluku of the Catholic Diocese of Butembo-Beni in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has faulted legislators in the country who are demanding an increase in their allowances and salaries instead of pleading for a better pay for teachers who he says are underpaid.
In his homily during the opening Mass of the training year for Catechists, Bishop Paluku said politicians “must know that the mission of representing the people is not an opportunity to enrich themselves.”
“Politics today has become a place for enriching oneself. Provincial MPs complain, for example, that their allowances are insignificant. Sometimes those from Kinshasa too. Yet it's the State's money,” the Congolese Catholic Bishop said during the Eucharistic celebration at Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral of Butembo-Beni Diocese.
He posed, “What consideration do they have for demanding colossal salaries instead of pleading for teachers, for example, who are responsible for educating our children?”
“If you compare a teacher to a member of parliament, who is more important than the other?” Bishop Paluku further queried.
