Pope Leo XIV has appointed the Archbishop of Tororo, Rev Emmanuel Obbo, as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Jinja.
Fr Georges Kwami Kouwonou, Chargé d’Affaires at the Apostolic Nunciature in Uganda made the anoucemnet on October 29, 2025. Fr Kwami is currently heading the Nunciature following the transfer of the Apostolic Nuncio.
‘His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has appointed His Grace Most Rev Emmanuel Obbo, AJ, Metropolitan Archbishop of Tororo, apostolic administrator sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of jinja diocese,’ the statement reads in part.
Archbishop Obbo will serve sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis, meaning he will oversee the diocese until the Holy See provides further direction. The Nunciature further expressed gratitude to the Diocesan Board of Consultors which has been guiding the diocese during the transition.
Unlike an ordinary Bishop or Archbishop, the administrator has only vicarious power, governing not in his own name, but in the name of the Pope whose jurisdiction he exercises in line with Canon Law 371.
The code stipulates that an apostolic administration is a certain portion of the people of God which is not erected as a Diocese by the Supreme Pontiff due to special and particularly grave reasons.
However, the appointment of Archbishop Obbo doesn’t have any effect on his role as the ordinary of Tororo. Instead, he will govern the diocese in the name of the Supreme Pontiff and coordinate the day-to-day work of the diocese until the Pope names a new bishop.
The Diocese of Jinja fell vacant after the death of Bishop Charles Martin Wamika on October 22, 2025. Bishop Wamika was laid to rest on Tuesday at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Jinja.
Bishop Wamika, the first Ugandan to head the Diocese of Jinja since its creation in 1966, succeeded Bishop Willigers of the Mill Hill Missionaries. The diocese was established from parts of the former Kampala Diocese after Vatican restructuring that also created the Kampala Archdiocese.