By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda His Grace Stanley Ntagali is preparing his exit from office following the expiry of his term and clocking retirement age.
Enthroned as 8th Archbishop on 16th December 2012 at the Cathedral, Ntagali retires on 1st March 2020 and on Sunday he held a thanksgiving service at Namirembe Cathedral in Kampala, during which he bid farewell to Christians. However, Ntagali asked Christians to stop speculations about his successor. Ntagali who cited reports about the next Archbishop of the Anglican Church, told Christians to avoid rumours. “I never dreamt of being Archbishop but God called me as a catechist in 1979. I was humbled when I was chosen as Archbishop but am more humbled today as I bid farewell to you,” said Ntagali. He added that “By 2012, we had 34 Dioceses but during my tenure, we created more 3 new Dioceses including West Lango, Central Busoga and North West Ankole. More two including East Busoga and West Rwenzori have been approved by the Provincial Assembly and we hope the Bishops will be consecrated by the next Archbishop.”
The Constitution of the Church of Uganda requires all clergy to retire at 65 years of age and 1st March 2020 will be Archbishop Ntagali’s 65th birthday. He said that he was only retiring from full-time ministry but not preaching. He appealed to the congregation to stay steadfast in faith amid several challenges of life including unemployment, corruption, human trafficking, child abuse and others. The Archbishop’s wife Beatrice Ntagali described their tenure at the helm of the Church leadership as a long journey. The service was attended by Namirembe Diocese Bishop, Rt. Rev. Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira, former Namirembe Diocese Bishop Samuel Balagadde Ssekadde, several parish priests, former Chief Justice Samuel Wako-Wambuzi, among other notable Ugandans.
