By Alex Ashaba
Africa-Press – Uganda. Rev Barnabas Tibaijuka will today be consecrated and enthroned as the first Bishop of West Ruwenzori Diocese following his election by the House of Bishops on April 3.
The new diocese of West Ruwenzori, carved out of Ruwenzori Diocese, will be domiciled at Bumadu Archdeaconry in Bundibugyo District. Its first bishop is a dyed-in-the-wool Anglican. The cleric was born to Rev Wedime Timiseo and Meri Wedime, a catechist, on May 8, 1975, in Bundinjongya South Village, Lamia Ward, Busunga Town Council, Bwamba County, Bundibugyo District.
In 2020, when Covid-19 reared an ugly head, Rev Tibaijuka—both of whose parents are deceased—took an early retirement from teaching. The holder of a postgraduate degree in Education Leadership and Policy Studies from Mountains of the Moon University in 2016 wanted to pour all his energy in serving the Church ministry.
Rev Tibaijuka who, besides holding a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Uganda Christian University (Mukono), has two diplomas (one in education from Kyambogo University and another in Theology from Life Style Academy in the United Kingdom), put to great use a Grade III Teachers’ Certificate he acquired from the Institute of Teacher Education Kyambogo.
He was, however, always destined to end up in the Church. In 2008, while serving at St James Church in Bundibugyo District, Mujungu Mutusera, a congregant, prophesied that Rev Tibaijuka would become the first Bishop of the long-awaited diocese of West Ruwenzori.
Today, the cleric, who went through the first two levels of formal education in Bundibugyo schools (Semuliki High School-Izahura and Bubandi Primary School) will make his home district proud.
It remains to be seen if Mutusera, who gave Rev Tibaijuka Shs5,000 after making the prophecy in 2008, will witness the enthronement. Thousands are expected to descend on Bumadu Archdeaconry for the enthronement. Rev Tibaijuka, who will have navigated the journey from Bishop-elect to Bishop, told Monitor that he is still pinching himself.
“I was not sure my CV would be accepted. After nominations, we did not receive results,” he said, adding, “Surprisingly, on the date of announcing the Bishop-elect, I was coming from the fellowship. The vicar of St John’s Cathedral gave me good news that I had been elected.”
Volatile Ruwenzori
It took time for the news to sink in, with Rev Tibaijuka admitting to “asking myself: will Bakonzo people accept me as a Mwamba?” To the rhetorical question came the answer. The cleric said to himself that “in the community where I am serving, there are Bamba and Bakonzo and we have never conflicted.”
It also helps a great deal, Rev Tibaijuka hopes, that he is married to a Mukonzo woman.
He said: “The theme which I will base on while executing my duties as Bishop is extracted from the book of Prophet Isaiah, chapter 1 verse 18, which says ‘come let us reason together’,” he said.
The Bishop-elect is not in doubt as to the volatility in Rwenzori Sub-region, which he calls “fragile.” The fragility requires “people sitting together … reason[ing] together and mov[ing] our church.”
“I am humbled to the Lord for elevating me to this status. I cannot attribute this to my education, to my social status or to any other force behind it, but it’s all about God,” the Bishop-elect said, adding that his focus will be on holistic mission that is alive to the poverty that bedevils Rwenzori Sub-region.
Rev Tibaijuka told Monitor that he will, as diocesan bishop, tackle the issue of food security. It beats his understanding that the vast bulk of Rwenzori Sub-region’s inhabitants plant cocoa for commercial purposes and use money from their labours to buy food.
He wonders why the aforesaid people don’t make the most of the sub-region’s fertile soils by having food and cash crops live side-by-side.
“Christians should engage themselves in business to get money to educate their children, engage in commercial activities because during Covid-19 church leaders suffered because people were not coming to church to give offerings,” he said, adding, “I want to ensure that churches don’t depend on church collections.”
Teaching bug
After being trained as a priest, Rev Tibaijuka remained a civil servant. When it became difficult for him to remain serving as a teacher and at the same time in the Church, he opted for early retirement.
“At that time, I was serving at Burodo Primary School and it was about 50 kilometres from the church. In 2019, I decided to apply for early retirement and in 2020 it was granted to me by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government,” he said, adding that retirement did not entirely dim out his teaching lights as they shone brightly in schools such as Mirambi and Buganikire.
He says the teaching bug first bit when he was on the books of, first, Bubandi and, later, Lamia primary schools as a grade III teacher. At around the same time, he was appointed to work in the bishop’s office as a diocesan youth worker.
At the diocese, he started teaching at Musadama Primary School. He would later join Bumadu Primary School after the creation of Bumadu Parish in 2012. After four years, he was appointed as parish priest for Bukuku while doubling as a tutor at Bishop Balya College in Fort Portal.
Other primary schools he taught are Bubandi, Busunga, Bumadu, and Mirambi.
Church ministry
By the time the House of Bishops rolled their dice on April 3, Rev Tibaijuka was serving at Buganikere Parish Church as parish priest, having been appointed in 2017. Previously, he worked at Bukuuku Parish from 2016 to 2017 while also discharging duties as tutor at Bishop Balya College.
By the time of his election as Bishop of West Ruwenzori diocese, Rev Tibaijuka had been serving as vice chairperson of the House of Clergy Diocese of Ruwenzori, Synod member, Diocesan Council member, and member of the Diocesan Board of Education.
Other responsibilities included being a member of the Diocesan Board of Finance Investment and Planning, member of the Diocesan Tribunal, chairman of the Board of Governors of Burondo Seed Secondary School-Bundibugyo, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Bundibugyo Royal High School, chairman of the Board of Governors of Semuliki High School-Bundibugyo.
Demand for diocese
The demand for an independent diocese by Christians of Bundibugyo District started as early as 1986. This was purely on account of language differences between the people of Tooro, the Bamba/Babwisi and Bakonzo communities.
In 2017, renegade Christians again demanded the creation of West Ruwenzori Diocese.
This saw Christians from Bundibugyo breaking away from their mother diocese, claiming they were being oppressed.
They also cited mismanagement of funds and other irregularities by their mother diocese of Ruwenzori.
At that time, newly appointed Bumadu Archdeacon, Rev Jonathan Kyangasha, who was appointed by Bishop Reuben Kisembo, had been asked to go back to Ruwenzori Diocese to hand over office.
In 2018, the provincial assembly and Ruwenzori diocesan synod okayed the creation of West Ruwenzori Diocese. Its headquarters would be at Bumadu Church of Uganda in Bundibugyo District.
The Christians were asked to put in place the basic requirements for the start of the diocese.
This included startup funds of Shs100 million, a vehicle for the bishop, key diocesan senior staff, a bishop’s house, administration block, among others.
The new diocese will be composed of three archdeaconries (Bumadu with nine parishes, Bubandi with six, and Kisonko with nine).
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