Church distances self from Ntagali scandal

The House of Bishops has confirmed that retired Archbishop of the Church of Uganda Stanley Ntagali committed adultery, which they say he has admitted in a statement.

In a statement issued yesterday morning, the bishops condemned the act and acknowledged it (adultery) as a sin of an individual in the person of archbishop (Stanley) Ntagali.

“The Church of Christ remains healthy and spotless,” said the bishops in a statement presented by the Provincial Secretary of the Church of Uganda, the Rev Can William Ongeng.

“The House (of bishops) resolved that Bishop Ntagali be handled in accordance with the Canons of the Church of Uganda,” reads the statement adding that “the house appointed a team to minister to the respective parties and their family members.”

Agreement

The house upheld the statement made by Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba, noting that he was implementing a decision that had previously been agreed upon by the House of Bishops.

The decision by the Anglican bishops was made at their meeting on Thursday at the Lweza Training and Conference Centre, off the Kampala-Entebbe highway.

Archbishop Kaziimba reportedly told the bishops that the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) raised the red flag with him over his predecessor’s alleged involvement in adultery.

He reportedly told the 38 prelates that GAFCON contacted him in May last year, with claims that the Church of Uganda had concealed Archbishop Ntagali’s extra-marital affairs.
Ntagali served as the 8th Archbishop for nine years until March 2020.

The House of Bishops is the top governing body of the Province of the Church of Uganda and Anglicans in the country number 13 million, according to church records.

It is suspected that the woman in the adultery case, one Judith Tukamuhabwa, tipped off GAFCON leadership after a house and car promised to her were not procured.

The House of Bishops, according to one bishop, was informed that Tukamuhabwa’s husband Christopher Tugumehabwe, a reverend in the Church of Uganda and an academic, was allegedly paid Shs30 million compensation, which he denied.

Ms Tukamuhabwa has since filed for divorce at Kabale Chief Magistrate’s Court, accusing the husband of cruelty. Court has referred the matter for mediation, which is pending.

In a January 13 letter, Archbishop Kaziimba, who is also the Kampala Diocese bishop, announced Ntagali’s suspension from carrying out priestly duties for alleged involvement in an extra-marital affair with a married woman.

“I have informed retired Archbishop Ntagali that he is not permitted to function sacramentally, preach or represent the Church of Uganda in any way until further notice,” he said.

He said: “It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my predecessor, retired Archbishop Stanley Ntagali, has been involved in an extra-marital affair with a married woman, which he has acknowledged. This adultery is a grievous betrayal on many levels.

Retired Archbishop Ntagali has betrayed his Lord and Saviour, his wife and their marriage vows, as well as the faith of many Ugandans and global Christians who looked to him to live the faith he proclaimed.”
Archbishop Kaziimba said his predecessor betrayed the office of Archbishop, his ordination vows, and the moral commitments he championed.


Ntagali speaks out

In his first public comments following his suspension, Archbishop Emeritus Ntagali said last weekend at his daughter’s daughter’s giveaway in Kikuube District that he is “always a happy man, but the devil is a liar.” Without referring to the alleged adultery case, he said people are entitled to make commentary as they wish but his daughter’s marriage “punctuated my misery and all the things that have been happening”.