By Chris Mugasha
On Friday, thousands of Christians from across the Diocese of West Ankole and beyond thronged Bweranyangi hill to celebrate with the Bishop Rt. Rev Johnson Twinomujuni as he marked his 7th year as Bishop.
Messages of congratulations from Christians, institutions and other development partners poured in to congratulate the Bishop and his wife Maama Joy for the journey so far moved. The deputy speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa officiated at the celebrations and congratulated the Bishop upon a number of social and economic transformations he has caused in the diocese.
Twinomujuni took over the Diocese in 2017 when he was consecrated.
He took over the Diocese at the time when there were misunderstandings between a cross section of Christians (in Sheema area) with the then Diocesan leadership. It took some time for Twinomujuni to ‘re-build the hearts’ and reconcile the aggrieved Christians with the Diocese.
However, barely after the Bishop had succeeded in settling the misunderstandings, a cross section of Christians from the same area (Sheema) re-organised and resumed their demands especially agitating for an independent Diocese which they have ‘dubbed’ Central Ankole Diocese (CAD.)
Addressing Christians during the celebrations, Twinomujuni said the diocese is moving on steadily across all fields but said, “It’s only the issue of CAD that is causing some people to misunderstand us.”
Even when the Province (Church of Uganda) passed a moratorium on the creation of the new Dioceses, a cross section of Christians in Sheema have kept the debate for agitation on despite several explanations from the Diocese.
The Diocesan Head of Laity Willis Bashaasha who is the Director for Manifesto Implementation Unit in the office of the President explains that, “the proposed Central Ankole Diocese (CAD) application which according to our organs, was presented to Synod for noting and further management. This has generated anxiety and because of the failure to appreciate the agreed procedures and policy dictates, certain Christians took it upon themselves to blackmail the Bishop, the DOWA leadership and this did not paint a good picture of our Diocese because all was false hood.”
Bashaasha noted that, “I am now happy with the provincial guidance, and our Bishop, the Synod and Diocesan council have remained firm and calm on the advice given on this matter.”
Bashaasha commended the Bishop saying, “As DOWA, we cannot fail to salute and recognize our leadership in promoting and preaching Ecumenism which has not only encouraged inter-religious harmony in our communities, but also provided a platform for unity and co-existence.” He said through promoting and preaching Ecumenism, they have witnessed strong support to the DOWA development initiatives by well-wishers from other faith denominations and vice versa. “We need to promote and keep these values and actions that unite us as people and negate those that divide us,” he explained.
According to a statement released by the Diocese, below are some of Bishop Twinomujuni’s achievements inspite of several hindrances, including the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
1. Preaching the gospel.
This has been and remains priority number one. The gospel of salvation, love, unity, and hard work has been preached. The Bishop and Maama Joy have used every opportunity to teach, counsel and guide.
The Bishop’s congregation has grown further and wider beyond the diocese. It’s now global as all major social media platforms have picked interest in his teachings/gospel. Thousands continue to come to the Lord.
2. Staff Welfare
The Bishop has put emphasis on improving the welfare of all clergy and other staff. The following deserve mention:
a. We’ve constructed the Dean’s house.
b. We have built a state-of-the-art Bishop’s house in a record time of 18 months!
c. We have renovated the DS’s house, and the fence around the Bishop’s former house at Nyakashebeya.
d. We have consistently paid our staff, ministers and those serving in different offices.
e. We’ve also been able to remunerate all the pensioners.
f. 95% of our Archdeaconries now have vehicles.
g. We supported wives of the clergy with goats, each. These goats have increased greatly, and the ministers’ household income continues to also increase.
h. We started Archdeacons and Heads of Department Association. It is doing well.
i. We’ve built four high quality houses for our support staff.
j. In Parishes and Archdeaconries churches and ministers’ houses are being built and or renovated.
3. Finance and Income Generation
As clearly put in his charge, to strengthen financial monitoring and accountability, the following have been done:
a. We established the Internal Audit Office and continue to facilitate our parishes with financial tools.
b. We have trained our clergy and given them financial management skills.
c. We have grown the Jubilee SACCO from 4.2 billion in 2017 to now 14 billion. We started branches at Kabwohe, Kashenshero, Ndekye, and Kitagata, plus other collection centres at Bihanga and Shuuku. We’ve also introduced mobile banking.
d. We have bought a commercial building in Bushenyi Town, which hosts Jubilee SACCO.
e. We have rented out Katungu facilities to Kyambogo University.
f. We’ve distributed over 49,000 coffee seeds to churches and some individual Christians.
Caption: Diocesan administration offices
4. Education.
Our Bishop’s desire to promote education is also evident in the following:
a. We have uplifted the diocesan schools’ academic performance and discipline.
b. We have supported Ankole Western University – from establishing its leadership, to setting up a strong Council, to establishing the AWU Sunday, to devising its support plan from Katungu facilities proceeds, to hosting a fundraiser that fetched over UGX 2 billion in cash and pledges.
Currently, its support has been consolidated. We now give AWU 150 million yearly. The student population has tripled, and we have even started postgraduate programs.
c. We continue to support Uganda Christian University. We continues to be ranked among the top dioceses in supporting UCU. At one time we even got a plaque for being second among western Uganda dioceses.
d. We have started a Bachelor of Theology degree program at AWU.
e. We’ve greatly improved Bishop McAllister Kyogyera, and we’ve established the faculty of music.
Caption: A cross section of clergy after graduation at AWU with certificates in Finance management.
5. Health and Community Welfare
About health and Community Welfare, the following are worth noting:
a. We have built Rurama Health Centre – other regional centers are coming up.
b. We supported our 5 districts’ task forces with 1,000 bags of posh, each during COVID-19. We also supplied food stuffs to 80 families during the lockdown.
c. We have visited and supported some retired clergy. We supplied them with blankets, a carton of salt, a set of plates, and a box of bars of soap, each.
6. Quota Compliance and Provincial Obligations
We have an outstanding positive record in this area.
a. We’ve consistently remitted the Provincial Quota in time. We’ve also paid all other debts to zero. We’ve already paid the quota for this year, 2024!
b. We’ve contributed over 200 million towards the Church House.
7. Land and Estates Development.
We have registered success even in this quite challenging area.
a. We bought 17 acres of land opposite the Bishop’s residence.
b. We have acquired a land title for the Katikamwe Forest and a good number of other church lands.
c. We supervised Bweranyangi Avenue (Road from Katungu to Bweranyangi) to its completion and opening. His Excellency the President and his wife Maama Janet came and cut the ribbon themselves.
d. We levelled grounds at Nyampimbi for upcoming developments. We also levelled Bweranyangi Junior playground and the Diocesan Youth Convention grounds.
e. Extending the tarmac road to the Bishop’s residence and into Bweranyangi Girls’ S.S.
Caption: The Bishop in a photo moment with some Christians and clergy after receiving a new car.
8. Ministry and Service
There is a notable growth and expansion in this area:
a. We established Kampala and Mbarara Chapters/Fellowships. They’re now growing bigger and wider.
b. We started the Professionals ministry. This is also growing in Bushenyi and Kampala. We have a plan to begin branches in other urban areas.
c. We began a diocesan music directorate and continue to host exciting music festivals. Music has done a great work in solidifying and beautifying our echo, promoting the singing of hymns, and unifying our people.
d. Again during the COVID-19 period, we supported our churches and schools with SOPs equipment.
e. We have streamlined the process of preparing confirmation candidates to ensure that they get to know the basics of the Anglican faith before they are brought before the Bishop.
f. We have constructed a mega Chapel building at Bweranyangi Girls, and many congregations are now constructing children’s churches.
g. In partnership with our overseas friends, we built a resource center at Ankole Western University.
9. Other key achievements
a. We have renovated and equipped the Diocesan offices. We also elected a pit latrine, put a walkway and paved the surrounding area and the parking lot.
b. We have bought a new Bishop’s Vehicle.
We are humbled that despite the many challenges, in these last 7 years, the Lord has enabled us to register these and many more achievements. We attribute all these to God’s grace and enabling, the spirit of love and unity, the generosity of a good number of Christians, good time management, and most importantly, our Bishop’s zealous, visionary, ethical and confident leadership.
We congratulate our Bishop, Maama Joy and all of us upon the completion of the seven years, and pray for God’s blessings upon us as we journey towards a diocese that honours God!
To Him be the glory forever!
Administration
