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I authored letter against Okunya’s consecration – Dr Ekure
Subject of investigation, Rev Charles Oode Okunya(L), head of probe team, Rt Rev Patrick Gidudu(c) and probe team member, Rt Rev Samuel GB Egesa. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Dr John Ekure’s admission comes after a long period of public denials
The proprietor of Kumi Orthopedic Hospital, also a synod member of Kumi Diocese, has admitted that he authored a letter which informed the cancellation of Rev Charles Oode Okunya’s consecration as the second bishop of the diocese.
Dr John Ekure’s admission comes after a long period of public denials.
In the leaked January 20, 2020 letter addressed to the House of Bishops and select committee of the Province of Church of Uganda, Dr Ekure accused the retired Bishop Thomas Edison Irigei of attempting to handpick the Rev Okunya as his successor.
“I reminded him that it was not his role to select or nominate his successor, but that there were processes and mechanism in the church that would be followed to get new bishops for Kumi..In second round of the nomination exercise, the now retired Bishop also attacked one of the candidates, Rev Captain Moses Okello as Illuminati,” the letter reads in part.
Retired Bishop Irigei couldn’t be reached for a comment on his known phone number.
Dr Ekure said he doesn’t regret authoring the letter.
“I agree to everything I put there, it is the truth, I think I have no apologies to make, Christianity is about truthfulness, there is no way we are going to bend processes. Every individual has his opinion, I can’t apologise,” he said.
Dr Ekure added that the letter has since been overtaken by events, but Mr Joseph Onange, vice chairperson of Christians supporting the Rev Okunya said they have not yet appealed because the courts are closed as result of lockdown.
In the letter, Dr Ekure said that the Rev Okunya changed his age to suit the times, questioned his marriages, saying the one which was filed in court has not been resolved, and that the union with the current wife took place in a non-gazetted venue.
Mr Joseph Onange, the vice chairperson of Christian community supporting the Rev Okunya, said the letter was one of the pieces of evidence that was tendered in court by the Church of Uganda.
Mr Onange added that the truth surrounding the issues of Kumi Diocese will all be known.
“Our brother (Ekure) in every forum always denied knowledge about the petition, but slowly the issues are all getting to point at him,” he said.
Caleb Alaka and Company advocates, law firm which represented Rev Okunya, acknowledged that the letter was authored by Dr Ekure.
On November 19, 2019, the Rev Okunya was duly elected as Bishop for Kumi Diocese by House of Bishops.
Subsequently on December 16, 2019, then Church of Uganda Archbishop Stanley Ntagali wrote to the Rev Okunya raising alarm over alleged relationship between him (Okunya) and one Dinah Amongin.
The same letter also informed the Rev Okunya that his December 29, 2019 consecration as second bishop of Kumi Diocese was postponed until further notice.
A February 1, 2020 report by the select committee guided that the election of the Rev Okunya be revoked on grounds that he had falsified his age, and had not reached mandatory age of 45 to be bishop.
The Rev Okunya lodged a case against Church of Uganda trustees, which was subsequently thrown out last month by Justice Musa Ssekana on the age question.
