Africa-Press – Uganda. Hundreds of Christians, religious and civil leaders yesterday thronged St Barnabas Cathedral in Bundibugyo District to witness the inauguration of the first bishop of West Ruwenzori Anglican Diocese.
Bishop Tibaijuka was installed by Church of Uganda Archbishop Steven Kaziimba who also inaugurated the new diocese amid ululations from the congregation.
Archbishop Kaziimba called upon the Christians to support Bishop Tibaijuka and participate in development of the new diocese, which was carved out of Ruwenzori Diocese.
He stressed the role of the bishop as a shepherd working tirelessly for the betterment of the diocese.
Additionally, he encouraged the residents of Bundibugyo to capitalise on their region’s cocoa potential, suggesting large scale cultivation for better results.
“We may have cocoa but you find people from Bundibugyo are not benefiting from it. I want every church to establish income-generating activities such as coffee, and cattle keeping, not only relying on church collections,” he said.
In his speech, Bishop Tibaijuka outlined his leadership approach, with a focus on enhancing both spiritual and socioeconomic development. He expressed concern about food insecurity in the area, particularly because many residents depend solely on cocoa as a cash crop for their livelihoods.
He pledged to encourage participation in government programmes aimed at improving livelihoods.
“I will ensure that our people embrace government programmes that aim at improving their livelihoods, but I also want to ask the people of Bundibugyo to improve on food security through planting food crops not based only on cocoa,” he said.
He also pledged to improve standards in church-founded schools.
Lt Col Martin Ayongi Kamya, the king of Bwamba cultural institution, shared the community’s longstanding desire for the diocese and pledged support.
Amid the celebratory atmosphere, the clerics appealed to government to adopt long-term strategies as a countermeasure to the suspension of loans by the World Bank in response to the passing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law.
Ruwenzori Diocese Bishop Reuben Kisembo proposed a reduction in unnecessary government expenditure and suggested amending the Constitution to limit the number of MPs to two per district.
Archbishop Kaziimba proposed that combating corruption would enable Uganda to accumulate sufficient funds to support its priorities, which have previously been funded by Western countries. “Some people are fighting Uganda for passing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, and as a country, we have a lot of riches and we need to learn how to use them, but the challenge is there is too much corruption, which we need to fight,” he said.
Tourism Minister Tom Butime, who represented the President, urged Bishop Tibaijuka to rally the community and actively participate in government programmes aimed at alleviating poverty.
Mr Butime said he was unable to present the bishop with a car from the President at the ceremony, which he attributed to minor procurement issues. He assured the bishop that the car would be delivered the following week.
ABOUT DIOCESE
The new diocese of West Ruwenzori has 21 parishes, 168 churches, three archdeaconries and an estimated Christian population of 165,000.
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