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Archbishop Kaziimba faults ‘concerned Christians’ for Church leadership wrangles
Church of Uganda Archbishop, Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu
What you need to know:
- In June this year, the Anglican Church in Uganda was in the spotlight following the decision by the House of Bishops to revoke the nomination of Canon Godfrey Kasana as the fourth bishop of Luweero Diocese.
- Without giving details, the House of Bishops stated that the name of Bishop-elect Kasana was revoked for misrepresentation and lack of integrity.
Church of Uganda Archbishop, Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu has blamed the increasing leadership-related challenges in the Church to the ‘concerned’ Christians who have turned the Church into a political arena rather than a House of God which follows the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
While delivering his Christmas message in Kampala yesterday, Kaziimba noted that this year has been a challenging one to the Church, partly due to the bad decisions made by the Church leaders and failure to differentiate between spiritual and secular leadership by some Christians.
He explained that whereas spiritual leaders are supposed to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and the Church rules, some people are fronting their people of interest to take over the leadership, something that has led to conflicting interests in the Church matters.
“I have lost count of the number of times I have been sued by a group of “Concerned Christians” because their candidate for Bishop was not elected. There is too much ‘grasping’ to be a Bishop or to have ‘your man’ become a Bishop,” he said.
He emphasized that: “Becoming a Bishop is not about seizing power, influence and status. Instead, it is about empowering others to excel in the gifts of the Spirit for the building up of the Body of Christ and the extension of God’s Kingdom.”
In June this year, the Anglican Church in Uganda was in the spotlight following the decision by the House of Bishops to revoke the nomination of Canon Godfrey Kasana as the fourth bishop of Luweero Diocese. Without giving details, the House of Bishops stated that the name of Bishop-elect Kasana was revoked for misrepresentation and lack of integrity.
However, a section of aggrieved Anglican faithful in Luwero petitioned the Archbishop before running to court to challenge the revocation. The case was dismissed by the High Court in October for lack of merit and not being tenable by law.
To date, Luwero Diocese continues to operate without a bishop under the leadership of Bishop James William Ssebaggala, as a caretaker.
Almost similar circumstances surrounded the elections of new Namirembe Bishop in October, leading to the constitution of an independent committee to probe into the nomination exercise which was said to be marred with corruption, unfairness and conflict of interest. After the committee probe, the House of Bishops elected Canon Moses Banja, who was consecrated to his new ministry at Namirembe Cathedral on December 10, 2023.
Meanwhile, the Archbishop urged the faithful to use this year’s Christmas to remember that it is only Jesus who can save them, but not ‘their men’ who they jealously push to become bishops.
The Archbishop also announced the Provincial theme for next year which is taken from Romans 12:1-2 – “Conforming to the Truth of God's Word and not the patterns of this world."
