By Micheal Atwakiire
Mbarara: Mbarara Archdiocese archbishop Paul Kamuza Bakyenga, on Saturday June 29, 2019, officially announced his retirement, and assured the congregation he had already written to Pope Francis requesting him to be allowed to retire. On Sunday June 30, 2019, Bakyenga clocked 75 years of age and happily celebrated his birthday in his home area in Mushanga Parish, with Sacred Heart S.S Mushanga students. He had served Mbarara archdiocese for 48 years, whereby he has been bishop for 30 years and served as a priest for 18 years.
His Shocking Secrets
Bakyenga is a fourth born in a family of 10 children of Cipiriano Kamuza and Maria Gakibayo of Bumbaire, Igara county, Bushenyi District, and was born on June 30, 1944. He attended Ibaare Primary School, before joining Ibanda Preparatory Seminary from 1958 to 1960. He attended preprimary school at Bweeza, where he studied in a church, writing on sand and banana leaves. “My father was not rich. He grew up an orphan, supporting himself. He never went to school. My grandfather was a pagan. He was not baptized. But my mother, who was a mere porter, had longed for a God-fearing man whom she found in my father,” Bakyenga said during an interview with our reporter at his residence in Mbarara.
For Bakyenga to enroll into a preparatory seminary, his younger brother’s primary education had to be ‘sacrificed’ so that their father could raise enough money for his studies and he chose to join the seminary because he was inspired by students of Kitabi, a famous seminary in Ankole sub-region which he passed by every day on his way to Ibaare Primary School.
“It is not that I wanted to be a priest, that never crossed my mind at the time, but I was strongly inspired by students of Kitabi Seminary who were caring, smart and very good at sports,” Bakyenga said.
In 1961, he joined Kitabi Seminary from Ibanda, and then enrolled at Bukalasa Seminary in 1965 for A-Level studies, although he did not complete his studies. “At Bukalasa, we got stubborn and we were stopped,” he said. He then tried to join Radio Uganda as a news anchor in the same year but could not raise transport to travel to Kampala in time for the interview and ended up missing out on the opportunity. He decided to go to Rushoroza Seminary in Kabale and teach. At the end of the month, he was paid Shs390, and he gave his father Shs319, who had become a squatter in Ngomanungi, present day Sheema District, to buy land to settle and feed his family. His father had left the land in Bumbaire, Igara to his younger brother and he (Bakyenga) used the remaining Shs71 to buy a watch. He then enrolled at Katigondo Seminary to study philosophy but abandoned the course two years later. It was then that Bishop John Baptist Kakubi of Mbarara, sent him to study at St. Andrews College in Scotland, where he would obtain a degree in Theology. He was ordained priest on July 11, 1971 at Mushanga parish, aged 27. Eighteen years later, 45-year-old Bakyenga was appointed bishop. He has also served as Chaplain of Ntare School in Mbarara, Rector of Kitabi Seminary, and Rector of Gaba National Seminary from 1985 to 1989, when he was appointed Bishop. On January 2, 1999, Pope John Paul II appointed Bakyenga Archbishop at age 55.
Reflections:
Bakyenga said his most trying time as head of Church in Mbarara was the March 2000 death of hundreds of Christians at the hands of the Movement for the Restoration of the 10 Commandments headed by Joseph Kibwetere, who were burnt alive in Kanungu. He also said he would never forget the sad memories brought by the 1993 accident along the Mbarara-Ishaka Road, in which 23 students of Kitabi Seminary, who were returning from a football match in Mbarara, perished. “I have lost many priests and lay Christians who were close to me and used to advise me. I have also lost two Vicar Generals; Monsignor Edward Baingana-Muntu and Nyabahika. All these have been trying moments,” he said.
At age 75 and owing to his seniority, Archbishop Bakyenga, a very talented and humorous preacher, is one of the prelates in the Catholic Church in Uganda who might be the next Cardinal.
Achievements
Archbishop Bakyenga has a lot to be proud of. The number of Catholics in the diocese, which covers more than 24 Ankole districts, has grown from about 700,000 to more than 1 million today. When he became bishop, the diocese had 18 parishes but now boasts of 43. The development of the diocese has been so profound that there is a recommendation to give Bushenyi its own independent diocese. “The proposal is there (in Vatican) but for us, we give recommendations, we do not decide,” he said.
Bakyenga’s leadership has been particularly strong in Education and social services such as health, pioneering St. Joseph’s University in Mbarara and a specialized Hospital for children – ‘The Holy Innocents Children Hospital’ at Nyamitanga, which treats children up to 12 years. Kitabi Seminary and St Joseph’s Vocational School remain among the top schools in Uganda under his leadership.
After announcing his retirement, more than 4 parishioners have already requested him to retire in their parishes and some have already started asking believers to contribute money to renovate their church structures.
