Bishop Kazimba Is New Archbishop Of The Church Of Uganda

By. Damba Rogers

The house of bishops of the church of Uganda has today elected the Rt.Rev.Stephen Samuel Kazimba as the new archbishop of the church of Uganda to replace His grace Stanley Ntagali who will be retiring in March 2020.

Kazimba in his address to the media after election, stated that he is to focus on evangelism aimed at converting the hearts and minds of Christians in Uganda.

The outgoing archbishop, Stanley Ntagali pledged to continue serving the church as and when called on by the new archbishop.

He also calls upon Ugandans and mostly the Anglicans to fully support the archbishop elect to better serve the church and nation as a whole.

Church of Uganda is asking the archbishop elect Rt.Rev.Stephen Samuel Kazimba to focus his energy during his 10 years of service on preaching the gospel that is aimed at converting more Christians back into the church of Uganda as well as fostering unity among believers and the clergy.

Speaking to some members of the house of bishops after the announcement of the archbishop elect today at Namirembe,Rt. Rev. Henry Katumba W. Tamale ( west Buganda diocese) Rt.Rev. James Wiliam (Mukono diocese) and Rt.Rev Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira (Namirembe diocese) Rt.Rev. Alfred Acur Okidi (West Lango diocese) expressed high hopes in the tenure of the archbishop elect saying, they would love to see him do campaigns that are geared towards getting more believers to the Anglican church as well as building strong fibers of the church of Uganda.

The house of Bishops has today through a secret ballot voted Rt.Rev.Stephen Samuel Kazimba as the new archbishop of the church of Uganda to replace His grace Stanley Ntagali who will be retiring in March next year.

To be eligible to be an Archbishop, one must already be serving as a Bishop in the Church of Uganda, and must be at least 50 years old. Out of the 38 Bishops currently active in the Church of Uganda, 33 were eligible to become Archbishop.

The installation of the new Archbishop is expected to take place on 1^st March 2020 at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe. At that time, Archbishop Stanley Ntagali will hand over the pastoral staff to Archbishop-elect Kaziimba, who will then be invested with the authority to lead the Church of Uganda as Archbishop. The Presiding Bishop at the enthronement will be the Dean of the Province, who is the longest serving Bishop in the Church at that time.

Between now and 1^st March 2020, Archbishop Stanley Ntagali will continue to do the work of the Archbishop and the Bishop of Kampala Diocese, as well as continue to bid farewell to each of the 37 Dioceses. 

The Archbishop-elect will say farewell to his Diocese and prepare to move to Kampala. His current Diocese will elect a new Bishop, since he will leave his Diocese to also become the Bishop of Kampala Diocese.

Bishop Edison Irigei, Dean of the Church of Uganda, said, “We thank God for His clear voice and direction among us for who shall be our next leader. We also ask all Christians to pray for this season of transition, especially for the Archbishop and Archbishop-elect who are bidding farewell in their dioceses, and for the Archbishop-elect to be prepared to receive the mantle of spiritual authority as Archbishop.”

The previous Archbishops of the Church of Uganda have been the following:

• 1^st Archbishop Leslie Brown, a British missionary, was the first Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga-Zaire (1961-1966)
• 2^nd Archbishop Erica Sabiti (1966 – 1974)
• 3^rd Archbishop Janani Luwum (1974 – 1977). Martyred in 1977.
• 4^th Archbishop Silvanus Wani (1977 – 1983). In 1980, Rwanda, Burundi, and Boga-Zaire became a separate, Francophone Province, and Uganda became its own Province.
• 5^th Archbishop Yona Okoth (1983 – 1995)
• 6^th Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi-Nkoyoyo (1995 – 2004)
• 7^th Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi (2004 – 2012)
• 8^th Archbishop Stanley Ntagali (2012 – 2020)

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