Divided Kumi Diocese threatens CoU control 

A section of Christians in Kumi Diocese roughed up and expelled a priest, and the assigning bishop said he was defeated by the unruly behaviour, deepening a governance headache for Church of Uganda (CoU).

In Kampala, last week, members of diocesan synods led by respective diocesan secretaries held a closed-door meeting at Lweza to, among other things, address reported political infiltration of the decision-making bodies.

Earlier reports had suggested that all CoU diocesan synods had been disbanded.

However, sources familiar with the process later told Daily Monitor that the meeting, which Archbishop Samuel Kaziimba also addressed, was an ordinary sitting of diocesan synods some of which had been prematurely reconstituted.

Diocesan Synod members are the highest governing and policy-making bodies in each of the dioceses and their sitting, unless by delegation, are chaired by a sitting bishop.

One item on the cards for the synod sitting in Kampala was reportedly the internecine situation in the eastern Kumi Diocese.

The fall-out during which rebellious dioceses have withheld remittance of offertory to Kumi Diocese, followed the election of, and disqualification of the Rev Charles Oode Okunya as the second Bishop of  the diocese.

On November 19, 2019, the House of Bishops chose Okunya, but shortly afterwards, some of the Christians in the diocese petitioned the electors, alleging that the bishop-elect falsified his age and engaged in extra-marital affair.

Subsequently, the then Archbishop of Church of Uganda Stanley Ntagali in a December 16, 2019 letter to Rev Okunya broached the accusations to the man of collar, naming the woman in the alleged extra-marital affair as Ms Dinah Amongin.

In the same letter, Ntagali informed Rev Okunya that his consecration had been postponed indefinitely, pending the outcomes of inquiries into the allegations raised against him.

Rev Okunya troubles did not, however, end there. 

In a February 1, 2020 report by a selected committee of Bishops, the prelates concluded that his election be revoked on grounds that he falsified his age yet he was younger than the minimum age of 45 to serve as bishop.

An aggrieved Rev Okunya sued CoU trustees, contesting his disqualification on grounds of age, but Justice Musa Ssekaana threw out the case.

Since then, the diocese has been embroiled in cyclical squabbles, pitting pro-Okunya Christians against priests suspected to have masterminded his downfall.

All archdeaconries under the diocese halted remittance of offertory they collect to the diocesan headquarters coffers. 

The acting Bishop, Rt Rev John Charles Odurkami, called out of retirement to shepherd the polarised diocese, confirmed to Daily Monitor that no money from local churches is coming to the diocese.  

Rev Odurkami also admitted there was hostility being directed towards him from Christians following accusations that he was against the consecration of Rev Okunya as a bishop.  

At one time, he survived being burnt to death after his vehicle was torched in Bukedea Town.

There are other clergy who have been caught up in the mix too. 

In December last year, at St Philip’s Cathedral in Ngora District, the Rev Martin Ejeit and his family were also attacked by a section of youthful Christians, who accused him of being against the consecration of Rev Okunya.

Then two months ago, a section of Christians in Mukura Sub-county in Ngora, blocked the transfers of new priests on grounds that they should be done by another bishop and not the acting one.

Rt Rev Odurkami said the ongoing chaos at the diocese is complicating church matters.

“I don’t know whether Kumi will have representatives at the provincial assembly. Other dioceses have elected or are in the process,” the Bishop said.

He ponders on what kind of organs the church will have.

Helpless

Rt Rev Odurkami also said some donors are raising accountability questions about finances of some archdeaconries in the diocese, but he cannot intervene due to the raging chaos.

The CoU headquarters in Namirembe, Kampala, is aware, but has not been able to resolve the impasse.

Synod members, who convened last Wednesday at Lweza, also raise differing opinion on reports that some of the diocesan synods had become politicised and had to be disbanded before finishing their four-year term.

Respective diocesan secretaries, the de facto diocesan administrators, have reacted differently to the news.  

 “I am also hearing news. I cannot say yes or no, the official communication has to come from the Provincial secretary which we have not received (yet),” the Rev Moses Kayimba, the diocesan secretary for Western Buganda Diocese, told Daily Monitor last Wednesday.

He added: “What I know is that the Synod for Western Buganda Diocese is still in place and working.”

Last Wednesday and Thursday, respective diocesan secretaries from across the country attended a retreat at Lweza training and conference centre on Lweza- Kigo road, Kampala. 

They mostly discussed how to improve their work and the different ways of serving their flock better.

What are synod committees?

The Synod, which is chaired by the bishop makes policies at the diocese. It has a tribunal, nomination, diocesan council and board committees which are mandated to ensure that the church is peaceful, bring church development and ensure spiritual nourishment.

However, some of the dioceses are failing in ensuring there is harmony in churches, Daily Monitor has learnt.

A diocesan secretary, who preferred anonymity to speak freely on a sensitive matter, said the Synods give dioceses some kind of autonomy. “They are subjected to scrutiny and can be overruled by the provincial constitution when certain things are not deemed right,” he said. 

The source states that some Synod members have taken long and are still yearning to serve. Under the Church of Uganda setting, Synod comprises representatives from youth, Mother’s Union, the priests, laity, archdeaconry, and professionals. Rev Samuel Ediau, the Diocesan Secretary for Soroti Diocese, said what is ongoing (disbandment of Synod committees) is a normal process and under Church of Uganda, it is an election year in which the church has to replace its structures. 

The Rev Ediau said by August next year, the new provincial assembly has to be in place and to constitute the provincial assembly, representatives have to be sent from the Dioceses.

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