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West Buganda Bishop search takes new twist
Rev Canon Patrick Ssimbwa. Inset is Gaster Nsereke, another contender. Photos/ Courtesy
What you need to know:
- The Diocesan Nomination Committee reportedly resolved to resubmit the names of Rev Canon Patrick Ssimbwa and Rev Gaster Nsereko.
The search for the next Bishop of West Buganda Diocese has taken a dramatic twist, with the Diocesan Nominations Committee resubmitting two names of nominees earlier rejected by the Church of Uganda Provincial Secretariat, the Daily Monitor has established.
Sources in the committee told Monitor at the weekend that the committee had submitted two names; Rev Canon Patrick Ssimbwa, the archdeacon of Sembabule Archdeaconry in Sembabule District, and Rev Gaster Nsereko, the Archdeacon of Kakoma Archdeaconry in Rakai District, to the Provincial Secretariat from which the House of Bishops was expected to choose a suitable replacement for Bishop Henry Katumba Tamale.
However, the Provincial Secretariat last week reportedly rejected the two candidates claiming the committee did not follow some guidelines when nominating them.
The Provincial Secretariat advised the committee led by Mr Stanley Kawalya to further scrutinise all names of shortlisted candidates and submit two names of suitable candidates.
But sources said during a closed-door meeting in Munyonyo, Kampala, on Friday, they resolved to resubmit the names of Rev Canon Ssimbwa and Rev Nsereko.
“If there are serious petitions against the two nominees as we predict, the House of Bishops will defer the names and order fresh nominations like it has happened previously in other dioceses,” a source said
Church of Uganda Provincial Secretary Rev Canon William Ongeng said the selected names of nominees are yet to reach the Provincial Secretariat.
“To the best of my knowledge, that issue is still at the diocesan level and they have not yet officially communicated to us, So, I cannot comment about it now,” he said.
The Daily Monitor has learnt that once the names of nominees reach the Provincial Secretariat, the House of Bishops will be summoned to convene between February 15 and February 16 and choose the next bishop.
The House of Bishops comprises diocesan and assistant bishops from the 39 dioceses in the province. The provincial chancellor presides over the election.
According to the Church of Uganda Constitution, if Rev Ssimbwa, 51, becomes the 7th West Buganda bishop, he will serve for only 10 years. However, if the vote favours Rev Nsereko, 61, he will occupy the coveted office for only four years.
The office will fall vacant on March 28 when Bishop Tamale clocks the mandatory 65 years at which Anglican bishops retire.
For the last three weeks, the 15-member nomination committee has been scrutinising the names of eight priests from which they had selected four who made it to the final shortlist.
These, the sources revealed, are Rev Ssimbwa, Rev Canon Kayimba, Rev Nsereko and Rev Samuel Matovu Mbogo, the head teacher of Sembabule Church of Uganda Secondary School.
There are fears among Christians that if the election doesn’t favour a native priest from any of the districts of Greater Masaka, it could cause divisions in the diocese.
For the last couple of years, a section of Christians in West Buganda Diocese have been pushing to have a native bishop, who would be the first since the diocese was carved out of Namirembe Diocese in 1960. Among all the contenders, only Rev Canon Kayimba doesn’t hail from West Buganda.
Bishop Tamale has been keen to defuse the tensions over a having a native bishop.
“But Christians should know that at the end of it all, it’s God who chooses a leader for his people through the structures put in place,” the bishop said during one of the recent interactions with the media.
For one to become bishop, they must be 45 years of age and above, an ordained priest with a minimum of 10 years in pastoral experience and holding a bachelor's degree in either Theology or Divinity.
West Buganda Diocese has since its inception in 1960 been governed by six bishops including Festo Lutaaya, Stephen Tomusange, Christopher Ssenyonjo, Samuel Keefa Kamya Ssemakula, Godfrey Makumbi and the outgoing Tamale, but none of them is a born of the diocese.
