Search for new West Buganda Bishop enters critical stage

Preparations are in high gear ahead of consecration of the 7th bishop of West Buganda Diocese.

The Church has already designated March 16, 2025, as the consecration day for the new bishop.

However, the 15–member nominations committee is yet to submit the two names of suitable candidates to the House of Bishops. The House of Bishops, which comprises bishops from 39 dioceses, has powers to elect the new bishop and is expected to convene early next year.

According to Mr Amos Ssemakula, a resident of Kalisizo in Kyotera District, they are eager to know who their next bishop will be and asked the nomination committee to execute its mandate in the most transparent manner.

“I thought that by now the names of two nominees would be out, but this is not the case. As Christians, we continue to pray for a smooth process,” he told this publication last Tuesday. 

However, Rev Canon Moses Kayimba, the Diocesan Secretary, said there is nothing to worry about, insisting that the nominations committee still has time to do its work.

“This being October and the consecration is set for next March. There is still enough time for the committee to do its work, but this cannot stop us from preparing for the consecration ceremony because it’s obvious that we will have a new bishop soon,” he said.

The outgoing West Buganda Bishop Henry Katumba Tamale, 64, is expected to hand over office on March 28, 2025, after clocking the mandatory 65 years for Anglican bishops to retire.

So far, the prelate has bid farewell to Christ ians in most parishes in the diocese.

Demands for a native bishop: However, some Christians within the diocese want the next bishop to be chosen from among priests in West Buganda to avoid the confusion and wrangles that have rocked the diocese in the past.

The same agitation also emerged in 2016 when the then bishop Godfrey Makumbi died in office after serving only four years of his 10 year-tenure, but the House of Bishops chose Bishop Henry Katumba Tamale from Namirembe Diocese to take over.

A Christian of All Saints Church in Nyendo, a Masaka City suburb, who preferred anonymity noted that the diocese is now 64 years old and can produce its own shepherd.

“We hope among the candidates there will be those from West Buganda and we pray that one of them is elected the next bishop, it will be a historical milestone for us in the diocese,” he noted.

While bidding farewell to Christians in Sembabule District recently, Bishop Tamale urged believers to pray for a smooth transition process because he assumed the seat peacefully and would like his successor to settle in peacefully too. 

“You heard what happened in the dioceses of Luweero, Kumi and elsewhere. We don't want to experience the same chaos and protests because we have been ashamed enough as a Church, let us pray that the Lord chooses for us the new bishop,” he said. 

Bishop Tamale guided that the constitution of Church of Uganda is very clear on electing bishops, saying the prelate can be picked from priests from within the diocese or come from elsewhere in the Province, even abroad.

“But Christians should know that at the end of it all, it’s God who chooses a leader for his people through the structures put in place,” he noted.

Qualifications

 For one to become a bishop, a prospective candidate must have credentials including being 45 years of age, an ordained priest with a minimum of ten years of practical experience in pastoral experience and holding a Bachelor's degree in either Theology or Divinity. 

 Sources have told Monitor that there are more than 10 potential candidates, but only two names will be submitted to the House of Bishops for scrutiny. Among the potential candidates, according to sources are Rev Samuel Matovu Mbogo; the head teacher of Sembabule Church of Uganda Secondary School and Canon Moses Kayimba; the West Buganda Diocesan secretary, Rev Canon Herbert Matovu; the West Buganda Diocesan treasurer, and Rev Canon Patrick Ssimbwa who is the archdeacon of Kijjabwemi.