Namanya is new North Ankole diocese bishop

Church of Uganda archbishop Stanley Ntagali (L) with Stephen Namanya, the new bishop of North Ankole Diocese in Kiruhura District, on Sunday. PHOTO BY COLLEB MUGUME

What you need to know:

New blood. President Museveni urges him to preach against HIV in the diocese.

Kiruhura. The Rev Stephen Namanya was on Sunday consecrated new Bishop for North Ankole Diocese at Emmanuel Cathedral Rushere in Kiruhura District.
Bishop Namanya becomes the second bishop of the diocese that was created in 2003.
He replaces bishop Nathan Muhanguzi, the founder bishop.
Bishop Namanya has worked as the archdeacon Kashwa Archdeaconry in the same diocese and he was the pioneer diocesan secretary.
At the consecration ceremony presided over by the Archbishop of Uganda Stanley Ntagali, the new bishop said he wants the diocese to have mature, committed and self-sustaining Christians.
“We want to see Christians who have practical testimonies for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We shall endeavour to reach out to people of Christ through evangelism, empowerment and proper Christian stewardship as we move towards holistic development,” said bishop Namanya.
He said during his service, priority will be given to mission and evangelism to guard against social vices such as false teachings, traditional resurgence, cultism, witchcraft, materialism and gender-based violence.
The bishop said he will also focus on infrastructural development, Christian and formal education, improving health services, discipleship, land resource management and building families as traditional units of the church.
Archbishop Ntagali appealed to the Christians of North Ankole Diocese to accord the new bishop the cooperation, love and trust they accorded to his predecessor for the unity and progress of the church.
President Museveni, who was the chief guest, said the new bishop should help to address the traditional habit of overstocking animals.
“The people in this area have generally made big strides in development but there are certain old traditions they are still rooted in like overstocking animals. I think it is ungodly to overstock animals and starve them. The new bishop should help to stop some of these habits,” said President Museveni.
He also noted the other challenge as high HIV prevalence rate.
“People still live recklessly. The HIV prevalence rate is 7.1 per cent, higher than the national which is 6.4 per cent,” the President said.
“Are you competing for a trophy in this? These statistics are challenging for a disease we have been fighting for the last 30 years,” he said.

Namanya brief biography
Bishop Stephen Namanya was born in 1959 at Kabuyanda, Kinoni Sub-county in Nyabushozi County. He is married to Lydia Twikirize and they have seven children. He went to Rwomugina, Nshwere, and Ruyonza primary schools. He went to Kinoni Divinity College, in Ankole Diocese, studied provincial certificate in Theology at Bishop Barham Divinity College, Kabale, attained a Bachelor of Divinity degree at Uganda Christian University, Mukono. He got advanced certificate in International Christian leadership at Haggai Institute in Singapore and a Master’s Degree in Organisational Leadership and Management at UCU. Bishop Nahamya is also a Front for National Salvation Army (FRONASA) veteran that fought Idi Amin in 1979.