Emotional handover as Bishop Katoneene ends troubled era

Bushenyi- Yesterday, October 2, 2016, a day scheduled for consecration of the new Bishop of West Ankole Diocese, did not live up to its billing but nonetheless marked the end of Rt. Rev. Bishop Yona Mwesigwa Katoneene’s troubled 10-year episcopal tenure.

It was a mixed moment of joy, memories and emotions on Sunday morning as the diocese bid farewell to the retiring Katoneene and his wife, Ms Ellyvaida Nshemeire, after 10 years at the helm of pastoral administration in the diocese established in 1975.

Christians, one by one braved the morning downpour and streamed to St. Peter’s Cathedral Bweranyangi, the headquarters of West Ankole Diocese, in Bushenyi Town.

The farewell service was led by Rev Can Norbert Tibikoma, the Dean of the Cathedral.
Delivering his message to the Christians, Bishop Katoneene described his episcopal tenure as a stormy one punctuated by character assassination against him by a cross-section of Christians in the diocese.

“I and my wife do not regret our service as shepherds of the flock here in West Ankole. We thank God for enabling us fight a good fight. When I look back in time, I cant mention what I did but God knows. We served, kept our faith and we are now victors,” Bishop Katoneene said.

He told the congregation that his retirement does not mean he is out of service, saying he is now re-energised to tend to God’s flock afresh.

He sneered at Christians who fought him or abandoned him putting the diocese in turmoil.
“Some flock fought me and others ran away from me but I am now a victor. Thanks to those who stayed with me,” he said.

Katoneene’s legacy
Bishop Katoneene will be remembered for integrating more people into Church leadership and attracting youth into full-time service as priests. He spearheaded annual youth conventions credited for extending evangelisation to the young generation.

The diocesan Head of Laity, Prof Emmanuel Karooro, said Bishop Katoneene’s legacy will be remembered across generations.

“You increased the number of church-founded secondary schools in the diocese from 20 to 40 and pushed for construction of the Mothers Union Centre at Katungu. We wish you all the best in your long retirement,” Prof Karooro said.
He asked Christians in West Ankole to reconcile and build the diocese.

However, it was a sad moment for some Christians seeing their Bishop leaving the diocese in caretaker hands of the Archbishop His Grace Stanley Ntagali yet it had been planned that Bishop Katoneene would hand over to a substantive new bishop.

Mr Willis Bashaasha, a Christian from Katungu Church of Uganda said: “As Christians, we are touched to see that Katoneene is handing over to the Archbishop instead of a new bishop.”
The retiring Katoneene was last week asked to hand over the Episcopal authority of the diocese to the Office of the Archbishop of Church of Uganda who will take over as caretaker until a new bishop is installed.

An electoral college, Synod and the Head of Laity have been tasked to spearhead the election of the new bishop and steer the diocese forward.

According to the Church of Uganda canons/constitution, the bishop retires upon attaining 65 years. The episcopal authority and the jurisdiction over the diocese revert to the archbishop who exercises it until a substantive replacement is found. It is the discretion of the archbishop to appoint a caretaker or not for the diocese.

In December 2015, Church of Uganda started the search for the successor of Bishop Katoneene. The Synod, the diocese’s highest decision making body, sat at the diocesan headquarters at Bweranyangi and appointed a 15-member committee to nominate candidates for the position.

However, some Christians from Sheema District, who had been at loggerheads with Bishop Katoneene, shunned the meeting. Later, the head of the anti-Katoneene faction, Mr David Kiiza, said they snubbed the meeting because they did not want to associate with the diocese.

Bishop Katoneene was consecrated in February 2006 and faced opposition from some Christians in Sheema District in 2012 as he tried to implement resolutions of the Diocesan Council to establish Ankole Western University Study Centre at Katungu in Bushenyi District.

The diocese-founded university project is at Kabwohe in Sheema, but Katoneene’s opponents claimed he wanted to take it to the neighbouring Bushenyi.

In June 2016, Bushenyi’s two candidates; Rev Canon Amos Turyahabwe, a chaplain at St Francis Chapel Makerere University and Rev Canon William Twinamatsiko, the Archdeacon of All Saints Greater Bushenyi, were nominated for the new bishop of West Ankole Diocese for the House of Bishops to choose one as Katonene’s successor.

However, the proceeding acrimony over the electoral process in the diocese between the pro and anti-Katoneene Christians has always hampered the smooth election of the new bishop.