Busoga Sub-region is mourning the death of the Rt Rev Charles Martin Wamika, the first African Bishop of Jinja Diocese, who passed away yesterday at Rubaga Hospital at around 4pm. The Rev Fr Gerald Muto, the Jinja diocesan chancellor, said Bishop Wamika, who had been battling prostate cancer and other age-related complications, had been in critical condition for several weeks.
‘A month ago, he was flown to India for cancer treatment, and when he returned, we had high hopes that he would recover. Unfortunately, his condition deteriorated until this afternoon when he passed away,’ Fr Muto said. At the diocesan offices in Jinja, news of his death plunged the community into mourning. Groups of faithful gathered in quiet reflection, recalling the late bishop’s humility, leadership, and development-oriented spirit. Mr Michael Kifubangabo, a member of the St Fatima Jinja Parish Social Communications Committee, described Bishop Wamika’s death as ‘a big blow to the people of Busoga.’
‘He was a pillar of development in the Church. His passing leaves a gap that will be very difficult to fill,’ Mr Kifubangabo said.
He recounted a personal memory of being joined in marriage by Bishop Wamika during a pilgrimage to Israel. ‘He presided over our wedding in Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle. We even travelled on the same flight and shared many conversations,’ he said. Born on August 12, 1953, in Namengo, Budaka District, Bishop Wamika became the first African bishop to lead Jinja Diocese since the arrival of the Mill Hill Missionaries in the 1800s. He succeeded Rt Rev Joseph Willigers, who had served for four decades.
His journey to priesthood began at Iki-Iki Primary School in Budaka, where his childhood encounter with Fr Joseph Odoi inspired his vocation. ‘Fr Odoi came to our school and asked who wanted to be a priest. I raised my hand without even knowing what it meant,’ Bishop Wamika once recalled in a 2023 interview with NTV Uganda. He later joined Nagongera Seminary in 1964, proceeded to the Uganda Martyrs National Major Seminary Alokolum in Gulu, and then to Katigondo Major Seminary, where he studied philosophy. He completed a four-year theology course at Ggaba National Major Seminary in Kampala.
His ordination was delayed by political unrest during Idi Amin’s regime, but he was eventually ordained as a priest in September 1979. After his ordination, Bishop Wamika briefly served in pastoral ministry before being appointed a teacher at St Pius X Minor Seminary, Nagongera. He later travelled to London for further studies in Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry, subjects he later taught as head teacher at Mbale College. Upon returning, he served as parish priest in Tororo and later as titular bishop of Tacapae in Italy while also serving as auxiliary bishop in Uganda. On April 25, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of Jinja Diocese.
Funeral arrangements were still underway by press time.