Kaziimba reveals Ntagali case details to bishops

Ntagali served as the 8th Archbishop for nine years to March 2020, meaning his successor Kaziimba received the complaint in his third month in office.
It is suspected that the woman in the adultery case, a one Judith Tukamuhabwa, tipped off GAFCON leadership after a house and car promised to her were not procured.  

The House of Bishops, according to one bishop, was informed that Tukamuhabwa’s husband Christopher Tugumehabwe, a reverend in Church of Uganda and an academic, was allegedly paid Shs30 million compensation.

The Reverend, however, last night denied the receiving any inducement.
“Who gave it (money) to me? I never got it. Those who said [so] know where they got it (the information) from. I was not in their (bishops’) meeting,” the Rev Tugumehabwe said by telephone.

Meanwhile, Ms Tukamuhabwa has already filed for divorce at Kabale Chief Magistrate’s Court, accusing the husband of cruelty.
Court has referred the matter for mediation, which is pending. 

Another Bishop who attended yesterday’s closed-door session in Kampala, but asked not to be named due to sensitivity of the matter, said they were placated when the Archbishop informed them that he did not unilaterally suspend his predecessor from preaching, administering sacraments and representing the Church of Uganda.

Instead, Dr Kaziimba, said he upon receiving the allegations from GAFCON met senior clergy from Kampala diocese, where the Archbishop doubles as the substantive Bishop, and the group in turn selected two emissaries to engage the Rev Tugumehabwe and his wife Tukamuhabwa.

Based on their findings, alongside Ntagali’s reported admission, the Archbishop said the team recommended the sanctions which he communicated to GAFCON on January 13, 2021.

Archbishop Emeritus Ntagali in first public comments following his suspension from priestly duties, said last Saturday at the give-away of his daughter Barbra Victorious Tumwijukye in Kikuube District that he is “always a happy man,  but the  devil is a liar.”

Without referring to the alleged adultery case, he said people are entitled to make commentary as they wish but his daughter’s marriage “punctuated my misery and all the things that have been happening”.
Some of the bishops during the meeting had voiced concern that Archbishop Kaziimba had handled the scandal badly; in media glare and without involvement of the House of Bishops as required under Canon law.

They also took exception to the strident and judgmental tone of Dr Kaziimba’s letter to GAFCON in which he described Ntagali’s alleged extra-marital affair as a “grievous betrayal” of the church, his family and country.

Sources that attended yesterday’s meeting said His Grace Kaziimba’s explanation reportedly calmed dissenting prelates and thawed the mood at the meeting as the bishops engaged with the crisis that has damaged the reputation of the Church of Uganda.
The bishops at the Lweza Training and Conference Centre meeting reportedly agreed to set up tribunal to further investigate the Ntagali case.

The House of Bishops is said to have tasked the Rt Rev Joseph Abura of Karamoja Diocese, the Dean of the Province of Church of Uganda and bishop of Karamoja Diocese, to communicate resolution of its meeting at a press conference planned for today at Namirembe provincial headquarters.

House of bishops

The House of Bishops is the top governing body of the Province of the Church of Uganda and Anglicans in the country number 13 million, according to the church records.

Additional reporting by Robert  Muhereza

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