The Rt. Rev. Benon Magezi, the Bishop of North Kigezi Diocese is dead.
His death was announced in a press statement issued by the Church of Uganda Provincial Secretary Rev. Canon William Ongeng on Tuesday night.
“The Most Rev. Dr Stephen Samuel Kaziimba, Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, regrets to announce the untimely death of the Rt. Rev. Benon Magezi, Bishop of North Kigezi Diocese. Bishop Magezi died on 15th June after a short illness. Burial arrangements are still pending,” reads part of the statement.
Sources at the Church of Uganda Provincial Secretariat told our reporter that the late Bishop Magezi had been first admitted in Mbarara hospital two weeks ago and later transferred to Mulago National Referral Hospital where he succumbed to Covid-19.
He was consecrated and enthroned as Bishop on 8th January 2017 at Emmanuel Cathedral, Kinyasano, Rukungiri. He had recently launched a major fundraising campaign to expand the Cathedral and the church’s ministry in the Diocese.
Bishop Benon Magezi grew up in a Christian home and attended church regularly with his family. During a Mission Sunday at his local church in 1981, he received Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour and was born again. The following year he left teaching and began full-time ministry as a parish youth worker.
Before he was elected Bishop, he served as Diocesan Treasurer of North Kigezi Diocese, and in many parishes. He was ordained a deacon in December 1991 and a priest the following year.
In 2009, he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Divinity from the Bishop Tucker School of Divinity and Theology at Uganda Christian University, Mukono, in 2009, having earned both a Certificate and Diploma in Theology from Bishop Barham Theological College in 1990 and 1998, respectively.
He is survived by his wife, Gladys and their five children. URN