The church should remain united

Mar 05, 2009

A lot has been written and said about the outgoing Bishop of Namirembe Diocese, the Rt. Rev. Samuel Balagadde Sekadde but I think the message that we should be preaching now as the body of Christ is reconciliation. Like any other person, Bishop Sekadde ha

Steven Busuulwa

A lot has been written and said about the outgoing Bishop of Namirembe Diocese, the Rt. Rev. Samuel Balagadde Sekadde but I think the message that we should be preaching now as the body of Christ is reconciliation. Like any other person, Bishop Sekadde has had some weaknesses and achievements.

After relinquishing his duties at the Diocesan offices at Namirembe, Sekadde attributed all the blackmail he had faced to people who he said wanted to replace him.

This might be true to some extent, but Sekadde should own the mistakes he made as Bishop of the oldest and respected Diocese of Namirembe. We expect religious leaders to be more exemplary than politicians.

He has been accused of selling or “leasing” church land, an accusation he firmly denies. But it is clear that under his administration, there has been a lot of wrangles concerning church land. Telling the public that he was not alone when making such decisions is not enough. For us as Christians, we look at the leadership. We do not know whether he used brokers or not.

I have always respected Sekadde and hope that one day he will come out and say sorry for what might have gone wrong.

The biggest challenge now facing the Bishop elect, Rev. Canon Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira, is bringing unity to the Christians in Namirembe Diocese. They are so divided that one school of thought says Luwalira is a proxy of Sekadde. That aside, the Christians are seeing a new face.

As he awaits his consecration on May 31, Luwalira should wear a robe of hope. We would not want to see what is happening to our Muslim brothers, happen to us.

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi, has asked Christians to use the lent season to pray, fight and condemn human sacrifice. But praying for the church is also paramount.

Corruption, homosexuality and adultery are eating up the church. The way Orombi has stood against homosexuality is the same way he should fight mismanagement of the church and its property.

I suggest that instead of giving away church land; let us empower the Christians to initiate income-generating projects on the land.

The writer is a journalist and Christian working in Kampala

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