The Anglican Church in Uganda has disqualified Canon Godfrey Kasana Ssemakula as the fourth bishop-elect of Luweero diocese over allegations of adultery and fathering children with two mistresses.
A petition submitted to the House of Bishops claimed that although 52-year-old Ssemakula married officially in the 1990s, he had been maintaining relationships with two other women, with whom he had sons.
According to the petition, one of the women has two boys and continues to ask Ssemakula for financial support. Evidence gathered by the petitioners includes text messages from the mother of the two boys, requesting money to buy soda, pay TV subscription, do hair, buy sigiri, transport as well as airtime and food.
Following the petition, the Anglican bishops convened and decided Ssemakula was unfit to become a bishop. As the Church searches for another candidate, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba will oversee the diocese when the current bishop’s term ends.
Extra-marital affairs are not new in the Anglican Church of Uganda. Former Archbishop Stanley Ntagali made a public apology in 2021 for committing adultery with Judith Tukamuhabwa, the wife of a priest in Kabale.
Archbishop Kaziimba suspended Ntagali from priestly duties after his adultery became public. Ntagali served as the Eighth Archbishop of the Church of Uganda until March 2020 when he reached retirement age.
While accepting Ntagali’s confession, Kaziimba said, “When we say we have no sins, we’re deceiving ourselves. But when we confess our sins to the almighty God, he is just to forgive us all our faults.”
It is not clear if Ssemakula confesses his sins he will be pardoned. Similarly it is not yet understood whether he will retain his current priestly title of Canon.
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