Nkoyoyo: The man who loved truly

Kampala- “Kati mukyala wange agende yeefise fise? Y’amanyi. Y’anjagala.” Now, if my wife should die…she is the one who knows me. She is the one who loves me.

These are the words the late retired Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo said to his friend of more than 40 years, Ezekiel Kapere Luggya-Lwasi, when his wife, Ruth Nalweyiso, got an accident some years ago. Nkoyoyo cried as he spoke these words, Luggya-Lwasi recalls.
Luggya-Lwasi is the vice chairman and team leader of the Namugongo museum construction committee. He worked with the late archbishop on various projects, including the Anglican Centenary celebrations in 1997 and the Church House.
“He was a man who loved with all his heart,” Luggya-Lwasi says, continuing, “He loved his family, he loved eating well, and he loved development. When he started a project, he would complete it. He was resilient.”
This love for people was probably nurtured during the late 1950s when Nkoyoyo was pursuing his first dream at Uganda Company Garage as a mechanic after he dropped out of school.
Those who lived in Nsangi in the late 1970s will remember Reverend Nkoyoyo driving around the parish in his red Peugeot 404 Saloon.
The Very Reverend Canon Augustine Ssekadde Musiwufu reminisces on those times: “When he was transferred to Nsangi, he found a dire situation. Heavy rains had destroyed people’s crops and houses. He would move around the parish taking relief items to different homes. He became known as a man, who loved people.”
Musiwufu, who was at the university, got to know Nkoyoyo in 1976. “He was not well educated but over the years, I witnessed his love for learning. I saw him teach himself how to read English. He was not ashamed to admit that he did not know something or to get people to teach him. It is not an easy thing for a Bishop or Archbishop to lower himself and ask for help.”

A blissful retirement
Unlike many people in leadership positions, Nkoyoyo did not look at retirement as a threat.
According to Musiwufu, who was once the vicar and dean at St Paul’s Cathedral Namirembe, Nkoyoyo was happy to go into retirement. “Many bishops do not want to retire. Some ask how it was possible that a bishop can retire. Even now, people fear to talk about this. But he would tell people that retirement was just a stage in life. I think this was possible because he had prepared for his retirement.”
During the years of his ministry, Nkoyoyo and his wife had built orphanages and primary schools. He also had Rest Gardens Retreat Centre in Bweyogerere, Words of Hope Radio Ministry, and a number of community self-sustaining projects.

Vision for Martyrs Museum
Nkoyoyo loved to have beautiful surroundings. When he became Bishop of Mukono Diocese, he immediately started rebuilding the Bishop’s House.
Luggya-Lwasi recalls, “He said to me, ‘Eno enyumba tesaana bishop ate nga mwana w’Omwami.’ (This house is not good enough for a bishop who is also the son of a chief). When he became archbishop, he also rebuilt the residence.”
It was in retirement that Nkoyoyo, on June 13, 2013, got a vision to develop the entire Anglican museum in Namugongo into an international one-stop faith centre.

“He called me on June 15 and we met at Rest Gardens,” Luggya-Lwasi says, adding, “He requested me to stand with him on the project, but warned me that we would meet resistance and challenges. Later, he asked me to find others to join him on the project.”
The resistance Nkoyoyo alluded to had to do with the fact that in his retirement, he did not have jurisdiction over Namugongo, which is under Namirembe Diocese. Fortunately, the bishop and Archbishop loved his idea and supported him.

Nkoyoyo always lamented the fact that Church of Uganda had nothing to draw people. “He always wondered if we couldn’t have something people loved. He knew some people would hate it, in the beginning, but we began fundraising. When the President gave him Shs100 million, he called me and said, ‘Mukama aguddewo ekubo.’ (The Lord has opened the way.)”
Namugongo museum was always on Nkoyoyo’s mind and he would call his team leader at all hours for updates on the project. “Sometimes he would call me thrice in the night, mostly after midnight. During the day, he would call countless times. He would spend the whole day on site, supervising the work.”
Nkoyoyo would solicit funds from his many friends but when there was no cement, he would donate 20 bags. This action would challenge his committee to also up their donations.

In 2017, when Nkyoyo’s health worsened, he was comforted by the pictures of the museum Luggya-Lwasi sent him. “I remember in May 2017, he called me at 3am to express his concern about the design of the main entrance. On his return, at the airport, he asked me for current pictures of the work.”
At the welcome service held for him in Namirembe, the retired archbishop told the congregants that he thanked God, who had not taken him before he had finished the work on the museum.
Today, the museum is not yet complete, because Nkoyoyo envisioned a specific ceiling, portraits of the missionaries on the walls, and a mural depicting the martyrs’.

The kind evangelist
Musiwufu remembers Nkoyoyo as a humble man, who could talk to anyone – literate or illiterate. This character trait helped him a lot as an evangelist.
“He would preach the gospel for hours, and people would not get tired,” Luggya-Lwasi says.
Nkoyoyo become born-again in 1959 at a youth camp at Ndoddo Church in Gomba, after which he quit his mechanic career to answer God’s call. The only dream he did not pursue was to become a rally driver.

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