Joyce Namugambe
Conflicts going through the church of Uganda are continuously causing questions to the country, since the elections of new bishops in some dioceses is getting out of hand.
This has been witnessed in luwero diocese, when Bishop Godfrey Kasana was elected as the Bishop of Luwero Diocese, and after ashort period of time, his election was nullified on grounds that his elect integrity was misinterpreted during the election process, making the elections invalid.
And now more conflicts are coming from Namirembe Diocese as the election of Bishop Luwalira’s successor is causing conflicts within the committee, as the chancellor for Namirembe Anglican Diocese Fredrick Mpanga, without consulting the house of the bishops chose to disqualify some of the contestants for the seat of the Bishop of Namirembe Diocese to replace the Rt. Revrand Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira who is retiring in December this year.
Among the 10 people who applied for this position is Revrand Edward Steven Kabanda, Canon Moses Banja, Canon Kayimba, Ven John Gitta Kavuma, Ven Godfrey Bk Buwembo, Rev Semei Ssebina Ssekiziyivu, Rev Emmanuel Lutaaya, Rev Dr. Timothy Thomas Nsubuga, Rev Essau Bbosa Kimanje, and Rev Enock Kimanje.
One of the root cause of the conflicts on this matter was the Chancellor Fredrick Mpanga taking it upon himself, and decided that only 3 people noting Rev Edward Steven Kabanda, Ven Canon Moses Banja, and Canon Moses Kayimba are the only ones to continue going through the selection process and disqualified the 7 remaining contestants.
On Thursday 27 July 2023, Kampala lawyer Frederick Mpanga of AF Mpanga Advocates, and current chancellor of Namirembe Anglican Diocese convened a meeting of the Bishops Nomination Committee which comprised of 15 members, to go through the verification process of priests wishing to succeed Bishop Kityo Luwalira.
After a long time of discussions, and after Mpanga read some sections of the canon law, he told the committee members that as achancellor, he had decided to only present three candidates for nomination out of the 10 that applied. “Only three candidates have the qualifications to be nominated for election for the position of bishop of Namirembe Diocese,” Mpanga said to the bewilderment of committee members.
However, he did not give clear reasons as to why he disqualified the other seven candidates or to give reasons why he only chose the three candidates, which left the committee not contented and told him that he has no right to disqualify any candidate.
One member of the committee being supported by all other committee members said that they did not attend the meeting to endorse Mpanga’s preferences which made the meeting to be extended from the planned lunch time to 6pm, for Mpanga to justify his decision. He then noted that some of the candidates are not of good morals yet others studied diplomas or certificates before theology first, instead of having Bachelors in degree first. But the committee disagreed with this saying that the canon law 3.6 of consecretion of Bishops doesnot give the order as to what the candidate studied first.
The particular law reads that “no person shall be appointed Bishop unless he/she has attained the age of Forty-Five (45) years and is a holder of at least a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology of Divinity, or first degree in any other field with an additional Diploma in Theology from a recognized Theological Institution by Church of Uganda, provided that a Bishop shall retire after serving for a period of fifteen (15) years or upon attaining the age of sixty-five (65) years, whichever comes first.”
Committee members cited the example of the newly elected Bishop of Mukono, Rt Rev Enos Kitto Kagodo who had a certificate in theology first before attaining a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and then a Masters in Divinity, which he attained in February this year.
Mpanga was accused of circumventing the law to push his preferred candidate and was openly accused of favouring Ven. Canon Banja. “Although members of the committee are elected by the Synod, the Chancellor is appointed by the sitting Bishop. Mpanga was appointed by Bishop Kityo Luwalira who is known to be very close to Ven. Canon Banja,” a source at Namirembe said.
Namirembe is the latest diocese in the Anglican Church of Uganda where the election of a bishop has become a contentious issue after Luweero and Kumi.
