The Luwero bishop that never was: 'Why did they wait for me to buy liturgical vestments before nullifying me?'

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The Rev. Can. Godfrey Kasana Semakula stands surrounded by the purple cassocks, white rochets, and ornate chimeres he once hoped to wear as Luwero’s fourth Anglican bishop—vestments now gathering dust in his living room.

His thwarted enthronement in July 2023 left him grappling with a question: “Why let me fundraise, fly abroad, and buy these symbols of authority only to strip me of the role days later?”

Kasana, 58, was stunned when the House of Bishops nullified his election just 10 days before his scheduled enthronement on July 16, 2023. The decision followed a petition by an anonymous accuser alleging he fathered children outside his marriage, a claim he denies.

“I was never given a fair hearing,” he asserted during a recent thanksgiving service for his late daughter at his home in Sekamuli village. 

“For three months after my election, I was told nothing. Friends and well-wishers, including Indians, raised funds for me. My wife and I flew to shop for vestments abroad. Imagine buying all this, only to be told 10 days before consecration that I was ‘unfit.’”

Public rebuke

Kasana retains the unused liturgical garments as a public rebuke. 

“I keep them in my living room, so Christians know it wasn’t me who refused to serve,” he said, his voice tinged with bitterness. The purple cassock, black chimere, and mitre, a bishop’s crown-like headpiece, symbolise authority he never wielded.

Betrayal

Kasana blames “bad elements” within the Luwero Diocese for orchestrating his downfall. 

“They let me raise funds, buy vestments, and prepare for the role, then humiliated me. It was a calculated move to drain my resources,” he alleged.

His wife echoed his anguish: “Those days after the nullification were the hardest. We felt betrayed.”

Despite the setback, Kasana remains a preacher, crediting his “special anointing to preach the gospel.” Well-wishers have rallied behind him: State Minister J.C. Muyingo, through his assistant, gifted him shillings two million for fuel, and supporters bought him a car.

The House of Bishops’ decision remains contentious.