Smartly attired committee members, comprising 15 individuals, gathered at the Bishop Dunstan Nsubuga Hall in Namirembe, prepared to assess applications for the position of the next Bishop. Bishop Kityo Luwalira, the current occupant of the role, is set to retire in December.

During the meeting, Mpanga, who is not only a lawyer but also the Chancellor of Namirembe Anglican Diocese, made the unexpected announcement that he would only present three candidates for nomination out of the ten applicants. The decision left committee members baffled, with no reasons provided for disqualifying the remaining seven candidates.

The three candidates nominated by Mpanga include Rev Edward Stephen Kabanda, Ven. Canon Moses Banja, and Canon Moses Kayimba. And the seven that he locked out are Ven. Canon John Gitta Kavuma, Ven. BK Buwembo, Rev Semei Ssebina Sekiziyivu, Rev Emmanuel Lutaaya, Rev Dr. Thomas Timothy Nsubuga, Rev Esau Bbosa Kimanje, and Rev Enock Kimanje.

This move led to heated discussions, with committee members asserting that Mpanga lacked the authority to unilaterally disqualify candidates and criticized his perceived favoritism. “We are the nomination committee. We are not here to endorse your preferred candidates,” a committee member declared, with unanimous agreement from others present.

Mpanga’s reasoning for disqualification reportedly centered on the applicants’ moral standing and their educational backgrounds. However, committee members pointed out that the selection criteria, as outlined in Canon 3.6 of the election and consecration of bishops, did not specify the order in which theological studies must be pursued.

Committee members cited the case of the recently elected Bishop of Mukono, Rt Rev Enos Kitto Kagodo, who initially held a certificate in theology before obtaining a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and later a Master’s in Divinity. This precedent raised questions about Mpanga’s alleged manipulation of the process to favor his preferred candidate, Ven. Canon Banja.

Sources within the diocese revealed that Mpanga’s close ties to the current Bishop Kityo Luwalira, coupled with his alleged preference for Banja, fueled suspicions of bias. The source pointed out that Banja’s wife, Rev. Canon Prof Olivia Nassaka, had been appointed Vice Chancellor of Ndejje University, an Anglican Church-owned institution.

Furthermore, Banja’s candidacy history in Luweero raised eyebrows, as he had been disqualified amid allegations of process manipulation. Critics questioned why Banja should be considered for the Namirembe Bishop position without thorough scrutiny of his credentials.

The controversy in Namirembe reflects a broader pattern within the Anglican Church of Uganda, where bishop elections have faced challenges in maintaining transparency and impartiality. Some voices, such as Simeon Kakooza`s, an Anglican from Lungujja, have called for a reconsideration of how nomination committees are formed and expressed concerns that such controversies could escalate even to the level of electing an archbishop.

“This could cause disunity within the church, akin to the internal conflicts seen in political parties,” Kakooza warned, urging for a transparent and fair process to ensure the unity and integrity of the Anglican community.As the debate continues to unfold, the future of the Bishop Nomination Committee’s decisions remain uncertain, leaving many within the Namirembe Anglican Diocese anxious for a resolution that upholds the values of fairness and integrity.

Known to be the smartest Traffic Police field officer of his time, then ASP Norman Musinga would in place of controlling the infamous jam on Kampala streets, instead create the same as women drivers mostly, would occasionally slow down, just to steal a second glance at a perfect structure of the fine-dressed and well-combated young cop.

Well-schooled, full of life, gainly employed and a free bird trotting around town, what Musinga only owed his staunch Christian parents was an upright matrimonial status. Before long, he landed on a facial and bodily endowed Nyaru babe, Esther Kyinkuhaire whose soul, he believed at the time, would be perfect mates with his.

Commanding a strong fun base with fresh and young corporate class friends around Kampala, coupled with his well-known parents back home, a flashy wedding was a walk over for Musinga. And on July 17^th 2010, he and Kyinkuhaire walked down the aisle at Namirembe Cathedral, commencing a relationship which flourished with three issues (names withheld) in just five years.

Things fall apart

According to now public documents on Court record, Musinga and Kyinkuhaire’s relationship started experiencing cracks when the latter started unveiling her true character, slowly but surely scooping out one trait after another. And it didn’t take him long to notice that he had actually, not only got married to an ill-grown persona but a strong believer in witchcraft as well.

Poor Musinga’s happiness turned bizarre on confirming that his hitherto lovely wife was heavily engaged in ritual and spiritual activities associated with the Bachwezi origins. She was involved in ritual praying at a church known as ‘Divine Power Temple’.

On many occasions, Musinga would find strange ‘things’ and herbs wrapped in backcloths and other materials under their matrimonial bed. This was a heavy grief for him to carry given his Christian faith and values designed within his person since childhood. He cried, cursed, grumbled and jeered himself silly but this was the reality.

He gathered strength and shared with his relatives but with little or no concrete resolution to the problem. One day, on 24^th September 2016, he ordered his wife into the car and drove straight to her parents’ home in Sembabule where, he presented his case. But like he found out later, this was a total wastage of time. Like daughter, like parents, was the case. He elected to solve the matter himself.

If he was to retain his sanity, the marriage dissolution was inevitable. Musinga narrates that he started by restraining self from conjugal exercise with his wife. “Because the respondent (wife) was engaged in witchcraft, the petitioner (Musinga) got great fear and even feared to engage in any sexual act with her since September 2016 to date and avers that his marriage with his wife is irreconcilable in beliefs,” reads part Makindye G1 Magistrate Gakyaro Mpirwe Allan’s judgment.

In a divorce cause filed on September 23^rd 2016, SSP Musing also told Court that the couple had hitherto slept in different bedrooms for two years due to irreconcilable differences. Whereas Esther filed a response to Musinga’s divorce Petition, she, on four occasions refused to turn up at Court and defend the same. But nowhere in her filed response did she deny Musinga’s allegations against her.

Her only prayer was that court grant them a temporary separation since she believed they could still work on the reconciliation. “She also avers that the differences the parties to this case are experiencing in their marriage is normal and does not call for a divorce but for a judicial separation for some specified period,” reads the judgment.

However, His Worship Gakyaro, in his decision, held that since SSP Musinga’s wife failed to appear in court to defend herself against the law suit, court had no option but to expunge her witness statement. This meant that whatever was alleged against her, stood unchallenged. “The court having found out that the evidence of PW1 (Musinga) was not challenged and was obtained through vehement cross examination by the respondent’s counsel, I will find it credible in proof of this case.”

In his final orders signed off on 21^st Jan. 2019 H.W Gakyaro allowed the Kampala Metropolitan Traffic Commander, Norman Musinga to divorce his estranged wife, Esther Kyinkuhaire citing witchcraft as the core reason for the dissolution. Court also allowed Musinga custody of the three children who are between two and six years.

The magistrate said he had granted SSP Musinga custody of their three minors and not his estranged wife, because he was in gainful employment while she had no known source of income to comfortably look after the children. “Court evaluated and found out that PW1 (Musinga) was gainfully employed by the Police and at a senior rank in the Force.” He however granted the mother permission to visit them during holidays but only after a notification of at least one day prior to the desired visit.

Here at the Investigator, it remains our prayer that even with the divorce granted and running, the adult duo try to devise means of bringing up the children without deeply dragging them into their personal misunderstandings. Indeed, things fall apart…