SENTAMU gave me my first pair of shoes - Kayanja

God has a purpose for everyone and maybe if it was not for the brutal regime of Idi Amin, John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu would have stayed in Uganda as a judge. After surviving death by a whisker, he found his way out of the country and this was the turning point of his life.

 

From a lawyer to a vocal preacher, he rose through to the helm to become the Archbishop of York, and front runner for Archbishop of Canterbury, following the announcement that Rowan Williams is going to retire at the end of the year. NORMAN KATENDE explores Sentamu’s life

 

If there is anyone who can tell a story about Archbishop John Sentamu, then Pastor Robert Kayanja of Rubaga Miracle Centre is the most suited. They grew up together, he paid his school fees at one time, wed him and has stood with him through thick and thin.

 

“One thing that still beats me is why John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu had so many names,” he starts with a welcoming smile, reminiscent of someone speaking about his hero.

 

“Maybe this is because daddy was so much into religion. I know we had two Johns in the family and that was our father’s name and Tucker might have come from Bishop Tucker of Mukono,” he adds, when asked for the meaning of the names.

“He was very choosy and picky, but he was a family uniting factor. He was also an interesting character.” He bursts into laughter remembering how Sentamu and his late brother, Sam, nicknamed almost everyone in the village. 

 

“He (Sentamu) was an actor and had a number of roles with The Kampala Crusaders,” he adds. But apart from the lively life, Kayanja remembers him as a smart and intelligent elder brother whose dad wanted him to become a doctor, but he ended up studying law and later a preacher.

 

“He used to take dad’s car whenever he was in a meeting and we envied him,” says Kayanja. “Of course, many times he would land into trouble and dad had to be called from the meeting.

 

“He was also the first one to bring an apple in our family. He had gone for the Crusaders meeting and they gave him an apple. He had spoken about it so much that everyone looked forward to tasting the apple. I thought it was jackfruit,” he says.

 

“When they brought it, I had gone to fetch water. They waited for me to come back before they sliced the apple for everyone to have a piece,” he says. 

 

“He was the second in the family to get saved and dad did not approve of it.”

But, he also had that love for the family, doing almost everything to see that his family had the best, including paying school fees for his six younger brothers from his book boom– money paid for text books at Makerere. He also paid the house help for his mother. 

 

“He even managed to convince the manager of UEB to come and wire daddy’s mud-and-wattle house in the 1970s.

“He was also a very good chef who used to come home with Margaret (his wife) and make good chicken. In fact, when he was consecrated as Bishop of Birmingham, he took us home and cooked for us.

 

” Though he remembers so many fond moments with Sentamu, Kayanja’s best moment was when he was confirmed. “I asked for shoes and he gave me his pair of shoes,” Kayanja laughs, failing to answer whether the shoes fitted him or not.

 

He jokes: “The one thing I have against him is for leaving me in Uganda taking tea without sugar and for him rising out there.”

 

“But he is a true brother who is always down to earth and always there for me. He has stood by me during so many trials. When my daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer, he helped me find a solution and the best medical care. 

 

“He even wed us and do you know what gift he game me? A big original King James Version Bible. Why a Bible when I have over 22 in my house?” he muses. 

 

Kayanja says it was Sentamu who opened the door to his salvation when he told him about Jesus. 

“He gave me a book with a Billy Graham and David Frost interview. I did not know Graham by then, but I later came to love him and to dedicate my heart to Jesus.”

 

-Mr. John Sentamu - 1949-1979

-The Rev. John Sentamu - 1979-1984

-The Rev. Dr John Sentamu - 1984-1993

-The Rev. Canon Dr. John Sentamu - 1993-1996

-The Rt. Rev. Dr. John Sentamu - 1996-2005

-The Most Rev. and Rt. Hon Dr. John Sentamu - 2005 to date

Born on June 10, 1949 to David and Ruth Walakira, John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu managed to beat the odds, which included growing up in a poor family as the sixth born of 13 children.

 

He was a grandchild of Jeremiah Gyagenda, who evengalised with renowned Anglican preacher Apollo Kivebulaya. 

It is said that Gyagenda was blessed by Kivebulaya to have children who would preach the word of  God. 

 

Sentamu, Pastor Robert Kayanja (Rubaga Miracle Centre) and Bishop David Makumbi (Redeemed Church in Boston) are products of this blessing.

 

With a father who was an educationist and a mother who studied at Nsube, Sentamu was blessed to have been brought up in a God-fearing and disciplined family.

He went to Masoli Primary School before moving on to Kitante Secondary School where he headed a debating club. 

This enabled him perfect his public speaking and also made him friends like Ruhakana Rugunda, who headed the Busoga College Mwiri debating club.

 

They later stayed at Nkurumah Hall. Rugunda was studying law.Rugunda says Sentamu deserves to be Archbishop of Canterbury. 

 

“He is very senior in the Church. He is authentic. Above all, he will be a unifying factor and show that the Church is for all, including Africans.” 

 

He married Margaret and joined the Judicial Service Commission as a magistrate posted to Gulu.

He found a backlog of political cases and within six weeks, he had cleared most of them as there was no incriminating evidence. This was the start of his fall out with Amin. The Langi elders named him Opio for his action.

 

He was transferred to the Kampala High Court and committed one of Amin’s top guns to prison for murder about three weeks after his honeymoon. 

 

He was bundled away from his family, beaten and “nearly gave up on life.”

It was Archbishop Janani Luwum who managed to negotiate his release and also help him flee the country.

Joining priesthood

 

He travelled to the UK as an immigrant and after surviving the beating and near death saw the interest in God increase. 

He decided to study theology at Selwyn College, Cambridge where he got a bachelors (1976), masters (1979) and PhD (1984). He also trained in priesthood in 1979 at Ridley Hall, Cambridge and was ordained in 1979.

 

He moved through the different stages of assistant chaplain, curate and vicar before being consecrated as bishop of Stepney in 1996. His law background saw him serve as an advisor to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry and also chaired the Damilola Taylor review in 2002, before being appointed the Bishop of Birmingham.

 

He also became the president of the Youth for Christ (2004) and YMCS (April, 2005) and on June 17, 2005, he was announced the 97th Archbishop of York and enthroned on November 30.

 

The appointment comes with a seat in the House of Lords and admission to the Privy Council of the UK.

 

Chancellor of York St. John University - March 7, 2007

University of Cumbria - June 1, 2007

Honorary degrees from the universities of Hull, Sheffield and Leeds.

Awarded “Yorkshireman of the Year” title in 2007.