Church of Uganda Archbishop Kaziimba, on farewell tour, urges self-reliance over foreign aid

The Most Rev. Dr. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu, Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, used stops on his provincial farewell tour to urge Anglican churches to become financially self-reliant. At a farewell service at Emmanuel Cathedral in Mvara, Arua City, reported by the Daily Monitor on Monday, Oct. 5, he said income-generating projects are needed to sustain the church. “We cannot depend on foreign aid; we must learn to sustain ourselves. If you are dependent, you will be a slave to the one who gives aid all the time,” the Monitor quoted him saying.

He pointed to local projects, including a newly commissioned church in Ediofe and infrastructure work at Koboko, and told clergy to support continuity when leaders change rather than erase what predecessors built. He also cautioned politicians against bribing voters with alcohol and consulting witch doctors, and urged residents to use Arua’s border location for production. The Rt. Rev. Charles Collins Andaku, bishop of Madi and West Nile Diocese, hosted the Arua stop and thanked Kaziimba for work on church unity and for helping clear debt on Church House (Janani Luwum Plaza).

The day before, on Saturday, Oct. 3, Kaziimba preached a farewell homily in Nebbi Anglican Diocese at the Nebbi Women’s Vocational Training Center grounds in Goli, ChimpReports reported on Oct. 4. He called on believers to reject corruption, greed and witchcraft and to practise stewardship and unity. ChimpReports says the West Nile farewell tour began in Nebbi and continues across the Church of Uganda’s 39 dioceses ahead of Kaziimba’s mandatory retirement on Aug. 15, 2027, when he reaches age 65. He was enthroned as the ninth archbishop on March 1, 2020.