The East African Diaspora Media Watch (EADM)

 By EADM Correspondent

 

In Summary: He dispenses both soft and tough love. He minces no words. He calls the devil by its name.  With him, what you see is what you get. No hoopla. No sugar-coating. The plain-speaking 57-year-old Archbishop-elect of the Church of Uganda Dr. Samuel Stephen Mugalu Kazimba is a true frontline soldier of Christ taking the Gospel to where it is needed most, Ugandan Diaspora communities.  The Ugandan-Diaspora community of the Anglican faith living in the Boston area, Massachusetts was the first to taste Archbishop Kazimba’s dose of both soft and hard love. With no holds barred, the prelate condemned the practice of witchcraft pervasive within Ugandan Diaspora communities. The prevalence of witchcraft practices among Ugandan Diaspora communities in Canada, London, the United States, and elsewhere is alarming.  His spiritual advice? “This rampant and normalized witchcraft practice must stop. You have served the devil long enough. Change and come back to Jesus.” But the man of God also had some soft love for the Ugandan Anglican community in the Boston area: Unite, love one another, do not fight wars in the church; the body of Christ is a beacon of peace not a theater of war. To the Ugandan-Diaspora congregation comprising of the four Anglican Churches in the Boston area, this was sweet music to their ears. Led by the Ugandan clergy, some of whom do not see eye to eye, the message could not have come at a better time. The rivalry among some of the clergy had also bred unnecessary animosity amongst the Anglican faithful. The way forward:  “Reconcile and end the meaningless rivalry.” The Ugandan clergy was in full attendance. Did they listen? Hopefully. The former and new Bishops of New England Diocese under whose jurisdiction the Ugandan-Diaspora churches fall were present and heard with their own ears. They now know better. Change is coming, we pray. Born on August 15, 1962, Archbishop-elect Dr. Samuel Stephen Mugalu Kazimba, two months older than independent Uganda is not only living out his faith but talking the talk of the life he has lived for as long as Uganda, his age met, has been in existence. His condemnation of witchcraft practices among Ugandan Diaspora communities and his call for reconciliation to end the inter-church cold wars are informed by context; he is neither ahistorical, living in a vacuum, nor without insight.  Dr. Kazimba, you are spot on!

Waltham, Massachusetts—Uganda’s Anglican Archbishop-elect Dr. Samuel Stephen Kazimba has condemned the practice of witchcraft that is so rampant among Ugandan Diaspora communities living in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and elsewhere around the world. He wondered why one would board an aircraft, fly across oceans and seas to carry fetishes and other witchcraft trinkets all the way from Uganda just to destroy someone else’s life in a foreign land. “Why should a highly educated individual fly to the United States with feathers of birds, hair, and legs of rats, skins of animals in his or her luggage to come and bewitch someone else?” the prelate wondered. He added: “For how long will Satan be promoted through ruining the destinies of others? Please, abandon all the evil ways. Turn to Jesus; he is the answer and savior from sinful ways,” Dr. Kazimba advised. “These practices are unchristian, ungodly, and a waste of time and opportunity and should stop forthwith,” the Archbishop-elect said drawing prolonged cheers from the congregation as the new and former Bishops of the New England Diocese looked on in bewilderment.

 

The Archbishop-elect Dr. Samuel Kazimba was presiding over prayers to commemorate Uganda’s 57th independence anniversary at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Waltham, Massachusetts recently. The service, conducted in Luganda,  was attended by a large congregation including members from all the four Ugandan-Diaspora Anglican churches within the greater Boston area;  St. Luke’s Anglican Church in Waltham, St. Peter’s Anglican Church  in Belmont, All Saints Anglican mission Church  in Newton,  and the host St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Waltham. . The prayers were also attended by the Bishop of New England Diocese Andrew Williams and his predecessor William Murdoch.

This is the inaugural visit to the United States by Archbishop-elect Samuel Kazimba since he was announced as the new spiritual head of the Anglican Church in Uganda on Wednesday, August 28, 2019. On his first stop-over during his ongoing pastoral visit to the United States, the Ugandan-Diaspora community of the Anglican faith living in the Boston area, Massachusetts had the rare opportunity to taste Archbishop Kazimba’s dose of both soft and hard love. He dispenses both love in equal measure. He minces no words. He calls the devil by its name.  With him, what you see is what you get. No hoopla. No sugar-coating. The plain-speaking 57-year-old Archbishop-elect of the Church of Uganda Dr. Samuel Stephen Mugalu Kazimba is a true frontline soldier of Christ taking the Gospel to where it is needed most, Ugandan Diaspora communities. 

At St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Waltham on that Sunday afternoon this October, with no holds barred, the prelate condemned the practice of witchcraft pervasive within Ugandan Diaspora communities. He noted that the prevalence of witchcraft practices among Ugandan Diaspora communities in Canada, London, the United States, and elsewhere is alarming.  His spiritual advice? “This rampant and normalized witchcraft practice must stop. You have served the devil long enough. Change and come back to Jesus, “the ebullient Bishop counseled. The prelate also condemned infidelity & promiscuity among married couples. He advised husbands and wives to always seek reconciliation where disagreements arise in the family instead of seeking short-lived gratification outside marital relationships.

The outgoing Bishop of Mityana Diocese also advised Ugandans in the diaspora to spread love, unity, and forgiveness amongst one another.  Drawing his message from 1 Peter 3 verse 8, he wondered why people who come from the same country hate each other. He advised Ugandans in the Diaspora to instead pray for and uplift each other in times of need. He condemned divisions in the church and reminded the faithful that the Church belongs to God. “The clergy; Reverends and Priests are only messengers of his word and not the ultimate authority over the church,” he observed.

Dispensing his soft love for the Ugandan Anglican community in the greater Boston area, the man of God said: “Unite, love one another, do not fight wars in the church; the body of Christ is a beacon of peace not a theater of war,” he said. To the Ugandan-Diaspora congregation comprising of the four Anglican Churches in the greater Boston area, this was sweet music to their ears. Led by the Ugandan clergy, some of whom do not see eye to eye, the message could not have come at a better time. The rivalry among some of the clergy had also bred unnecessary animosity amongst the Anglican faithful. The way forward:  “Reconcile and end the meaningless rivalry,” the Archbishop recommended. The Ugandan clergy was in full attendance. Did they listen? Hopefully. Providentially, the former and new Bishops of New England Diocese under whose jurisdiction the Ugandan-Diaspora churches fall were present and heard with their own ears. They now know better. Change is coming, we pray.

But Rev. Michael Kafeero, leader of the hosting St. Paul’s Anglican Church Waltham could not let the opportunity offered by Uganda’s Independence Day service in his backyard slip away without a political message to the Ugandan government. Rev. Kafeero decried the injustice meted to opposition parties in Uganda ahead of the 2021 elections. He called upon the government of Uganda to respect the fundamental human rights of all people and end the impunity by treating everyone equally as fellow citizens in the 57-year-old independent Uganda. Later, the Archbishop-elect, the Bishops, the clergy, and guests joined the jovial congregation for the sumptuous Ugandan dinner after the service.

During his tour of the greater Boston area, Dr. Kazimba inaugurated St. Luke’s Anglican Church in Waltham, Massachusetts on Saturday, October 12, 2019. St. Luke’s Church, the fourth Ugandan Anglican church in the greater Boston area, is led by the Rev. Christine Nakyeyune Busuulwa. The other churches are St. Peter’s Anglican Church located in Belmont headed by Rev. Dr. Alex Kasirye; All Saints Anglican mission Church in Newton led by rev. Dr. Emmanuel Kiwumulo; and St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Waltham led by Rev. Michael Kafeero.

The Ugandan-Diaspora Anglican Church in the greater Boston area, Massachusetts was started over 10 years ago based on the doctrine of the Anglican foundation with Services conducted predominantly in Luganda and led by clergy ordained under the Anglican church in Uganda.  According to Rev. Dr. Alex Kasirye who has been at its realm since its inception, the success of the church has been hinged on the understanding and preservation of “our identity and mapping of our mission as a church in the diaspora for the Christian community ready to do a mission for each other”. Dr. Kasirye told the EADM that members of the Anglican Church are a blessed community of believers who constantly work towards the total transformation of others for the sake of Christ.

But for the four Ugandan-Diaspora churches in the greater Boston area, the pastoral visit by Archbishop-elect Dr. Samuel Kazimba’s was not only timely but also uniquely reconciliatory by every measure. The Archbishop reached out to all the clergy heading the 4 Anglican churches who have not had a cordial relationship with each other for a long time. All the four churches are splinter groups of one original church that was founded in Waltham over ten years ago. But Dr. Kazimba’s outreach effort aimed at bringing them together, reconcile their differences and grow the body of Christ as a unit, not their egos.

Born on August 15, 1962, Archbishop-elect Dr. Samuel Stephen Mugalu Kazimba, two months older than independent Uganda is not only living out his faith but talking the talk of the life he has lived for as long as Uganda, his contemporary, has been in existence. His condemnation of witchcraft practices among Ugandan Diaspora communities and his call for reconciliation to end the inter-church cold wars are informed by context; he is neither ahistorical, living in a vacuum, nor without insight.  Dr. Kazimba, you are spot on!

The Anglican Churches in Boston are affiliated to the New England Anglican Diocese with headquarters in Amesbury, Massachusetts.  The New England Anglican Diocese is affiliated to the Anglican Church in North America. The Ugandan Anglican community in Massachusetts enjoys a good relationship with the Anglican Church in North America. To that end, Archbishop Foley Beach of the Anglican Church in North America is expected to be the guest of honor and will deliver the sermon at Bishop Kazimba’s consecration as the next Archbishop of the Church of Uganda on March 1st, 2020.

Bishop Kazimba, who becomes the 9th Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, will replace the Archbishop Stanley Ntagali who is retiring after serving as the head of the Anglican communion in Uganda since 2012.  The retiring Archbishop Ntagali was installed as Archbishop on December 16, 2012, to replace Dr. Luke Orombi. The Archbishop-elect Dr. Samuel Stephen Mugalu Kazimba was consecrated bishop of Mityana Diocese on October 26, 2008, and has been serving as the Bishop of Mityana Diocese for almost 11 years. On assumption of the office of the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Dr. Kazimba will also become the substantive Bishop of Kampala Diocese headquartered at All Saints Cathedral, Nakasero.

Born to Besweri Kaddu and MS Jessica Nanyonjo on August 15, 1962, at Gulama-Najja Kyaggwe, the newly-born baby boy was named after his grandfather Kaziimba who served as a lay-leader of Kinoni-Kasoga Parish and Gulama-Nyenga Parish. Married to Margaret Naggayi Bulya, the couple is blessed with four boys, Kisakye Moses Mugalu, Muwanguzi Peter Kyeswa, Musasizi Enoch Kaziimba, and Kwagala Joseph Kaziimba.

 Dr. Kaziimba grew up with his mother at Katwe, Kampala, who took the responsibility of his primary education at Gakuwebwa Munno Nursery and Lusaka Primary School. On April 22, 1973, he was baptized by Canon Y. Baddokwaya at St. Luke Kibuye and confirmed by Bishop Misaeri Kawuma on September 22, 1979, at Namataba Kyaggwe. His calling started in teaching the Sunday school children in November 1979 after his confirmation. He started his ministry while in secondary school. He joined Madudu church choir in 1980 and later on served in this church as a catechist from 1981 to 1983. He was trained as a Lay-Leader at Baskerville Theological College Ngogwe in 1985 and was posted to Lugazi St. Peter’s Church. Between 1988 and 1990, Kaziimba trained at Uganda Martyrs’ Seminary and was ordained in December 1990 by Bishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo. He served as Assistant Vicar at Nakibizzi Parish from 1990 to 1994. In 1996, he completed his Diploma in Theology at Bishop Tucker College and was posted to Katente Parish as Parish priest from 1997 to 2000. He was then transferred to Mukono Cathedral as Vicar in 2000 and while there was made the Acting Provost of Mukono Cathedral by Bishop Michael Ssenyimba. In 2004 he was confirmed as the provost of St. Philip and Andrew‘s Cathedral. Kaziimba became the 4th Bishop of Mityana Diocese on October 26, 2008, replacing Bishop Dr. Dunstan Kopriano Bukenya.