Elders of the Church of Uganda are locked up in a crisis meeting geared at how best to handle the sex scandal involving Retired Archbishop Stanley Ntagali, who is accused of committing adultery with a married woman.
On Monday, Church of Uganda Archbishop Stephen Samuel Kazimba suspended Ntagali after it was established that he was involved in an extra-marital affair with a married woman.
In a statement released on Monday, Archbishop Dr Stephen Samuel Kazimba stated that Ntagali had been suspended from apostolic service for committing adultery contrary to vows and moral commitments he championed. Dr Kazimba also noted that Ntagali had acknowledged his sin.
“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” Dr. Kazimba said.
Highly placed sources in the Anglican Church indicate that a crisis meeting of church elders has been convened in Kabale to amicably resolve the matter. The exact venue and identities of the elders is yet to be confirmed yet.
The elders according to sources are greatly concerned about the effect that Ntagali’s sinful actions has on the Church, the followers as well as its image.
It is more likely that Dr Kazimba opted to make the matter public before the damage-control strategy had been sought on how to sustainably manage its effects.
Mr Ivan Nayijuka, the communications officer for Kampala Diocese confirmed that back-to-back meetings are ongoing and a press conference will soon be organized to communicate the resolutions on the matter.
He however noted that the statement from the archbishop was meant to alert primates in the Anglican Church abroad and not Ugandans. He said what Ugandans must do is pray for the church as they await a formal communication.
In his statement, Dr Kazimba noted that now is not time for gossip but for repentance before he assured the Church of Uganda that it is a season of “Business Unusual.”
“This is not a time for us to gossip. This is a time for repentance; a time for prayer; a time to examine our own sin and failings in humility; and a time to make all our relationships right before God” he added.
It has since been established that Ntagali’s nocturnal behavior became public after a series of rumors and complaints from the faithful who piled pressure on the church leadership leading to Kazimba’s intervention.
Highly credible sources told this website that Ntagali’s intimate relationship with the woman has been an open secret within people around him though they opted not to speak lest they humiliate the man of God.
Sources indicate that the two have been an item for close to four years, a period dating back to when Ntagali was head of the Church of Uganda.
This however comes barely a year after the Church of Uganda was hit by another sex scandal after an Anglican parish priest in Wakiso was accused of denying a child he fathered from a relationship with a female choir member named Perusi Nabirye. Nabirye was a pianist at St. Stephen’s Kazo Church of Uganda.
Rev Ronald Kalende vehemently denied the allegations in a scandal accusing another Reverend, Julius Matovu of Jjungo Parish of being responsible. This prompted the intervention of the leadership of the Church of Uganda with a ban against both from preaching in any church in the country. A DNA test later confirmed Kalende as the biological father of the child.