Nkoyoyo valued, promoted education

The ugly hand of death has robbed Uganda of one of its finest men of God, retired Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo. The country is in mourning his death for good reason - he ran and completed a good race. Much is certainly known about the deceased as his legacy towers beyond the humble giant’s stature. I will only concentrate on contextualising his contribution to provide the much needed hope for the current and future generations as follows:

First, he consciously chose to change career path when he embraced Jesus Christ. This saw him leave Uganda Company where he was a mechanic and start the journey that led his way to become an archbishop. This should confirm to today’s youth that all is possible in life despite your situation hence there is no need for despair.

What you become depends entirely on the choices you make in life.
Second, contrary to the belief in some circles that men of God should not struggle so hard over earthly things, Archbishop Nkoyoyo always emphasised the need for hard work, of which he led by example.

Therefore, It is not surprising that he has a catalogue of development projects to his name with the most outstanding one being the Uganda Christian University, Church House and the Anglican Martyrs Museum. He showed that working hard is both good and Godly.
Third, whereas Archbishop Nkoyoyo was not so highly educated, that did not bar him from appreciating that education was very important and crucial for transformation of society.

This is confirmed by his zeal for promoting education through establishing various schools, including Bishop Nkoyoyo Matale. He also availed learning opportunities for the needy as well as orphans. Therefore, men and women of God should embrace this virtue to promote education in the country.

Fourth, as the founding Bishop for Mukono Anglican Diocese, he set the pace for the subsequent bishops in terms of having a holistic approach to preaching the gospel of Christ. This is seen in form of several income-generating development projects at Bessaniya and Nakanyonyi, among others. This underpins the holistic Mission of Jesus Christ which Christians must embrace.

Fifth, the retired archbishop was a super role model among the Anglicans and beyond. In a country where individualism is taking centre stage, the death of Archbishop Nkoyoyo presents a big challenge for us to mentor another clergy of his caliber, given that men of God, who genuinely love all and are willing to assist the under privileged, are very rare. To me, his greatness is in being able to do so much and remaining hugely humble.

Sixth, Archbishop Nkoyoyo loved Christ and whole-heartedly preached the Gospel of salvation. In his life time, true Christian living was firmly revealed. No doubt, he needed not much effort to bring others to salvation for they saw his values and virtues that needed no mention.

In sum, the greatest lesson that we can learn from Archbishop Nkoyoyo’s gifts and contributions to humanity is the unconditional love that drove him into working so hard to please those he loved. Rest in peace Archbishop Nkoyoyo!

Richard Mubiru,
[email protected]