AMECEA: Office Bearers Appointed by AMECEA Executive Board
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
The Executive Board members of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) during the maiden meeting after their appointed in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, during the 20th plenary assembly have appointed key office bearers for the various departments at the AMECEA secretariat.
The Board appointed Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba of Kenya’s Archdiocese of Kisumu as Vice Chairman of AMECEA and will be working closely with Bishop Charles Sampa Kasonde of Solwezi Diocese in Zambia, who was appointed the Chairman during the 20th plenary assembly in Tanzania.
Archbishop Muhatia will also be the AMECEA’s representative at the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) where the association is one of the regional members.
The Executive Board has appointed Archbishop George Desmond Tambala of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe, Malawi, as Chairman of AMECEA Promotion of Integral Human Department (PIHD) a responsibility he says he needs to “learn first and understand what the department involves.”
“I look forward to seeing the relevance of the Integral Human Development in the AMECEA region and the need to have a different face,” the member of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCD) who has been at the helm of the Archdiocese since October 2021, said in an interview and explained further, “A lot of our integral work is being modeled under NGO model but that has its own risks.”
“I would like us to look into what the Holy See proposes as a model and how we can develop that in the region and find ways on how the PIHD can have impact in the society,” the Archbishop narrated.
For AMECEA Social Communications Department, Bishop Noel Seyoum Fransua, Vicar Apostolic of Hossana Vicariate, Ethiopia was the board’s choice as the Chairman.
The Ethiopian Prelate appreciated the work of AMECEA’s Social Communications emphasizing that the department, “needs to be the witness of goodness in the region and source of people’s hope, faith and love.”
“I see social communication as a tool for faith formation, and for
building relationship at the AMECEA region among different member conferences and beyond,” Bishop Fransua shared with AMECEA online during the Wednesday interview adding that “Communication is a gift from God.”
He disclosed that there is a lot of fake news which erodes societal values hence AMECEA social communications department needs to “correct these false information and promote African values by reporting verified news.”
The Executive Board also appointed Bishop Rogath Kimaryo of Same, Tanzania as Chairman of AMECEA Pastoral department.
According to the Bishop who intends to first coordinate with the head of the department to learn more of its operation, “pastoral care is the life of the Church which touche
s every aspect.”
He based his concern on the ongoing synodal process noting that AMECEA region should put together ideas which touch on synod topics “as we talk of
our involvement in the life of the Church from bottom-up and listen to everybody, discuss about them and have a renewed Church.”
Fr. Emmanuel Chimombo the coordinator for AMECEA’s pastoral department will remain the Deputy Secretary general to work in collaboration with Fr. Anthony Makunde who was re-elected during the 20th plenary assembly as the Secretary General of AMECEA.
Fr Chimombo has been at the helm of AMECEA Pastoral Department since June 2016.
