Former Prime Minister John Patrick Amama Mbabazi has been installed as a Lay Canon in the Church of Uganda’s Kinkiizi Diocese in recognition of his contribution to the church and the wider community.
Mbabazi was installed on Sunday, July 26, 2026, during a ceremony presided over by Kinkiizi Diocese Bishop Dan Zoreka. He was among five new Lay Canons installed alongside three Reverend Canons.
The appointment was first announced earlier this year during the eighth Synod of Kinkiizi Diocese at St Peter’s Cathedral, Nyakatare. The other Lay Canons appointed were Sunday Charles, Dr Birungi Mutahunga, Dr Peace Musinguzi Garuga and Moses Katebire.
A Lay Canon is an honorary position given to distinguished lay members of the Anglican Church in recognition of their service to the church and society. The title does not confer priestly or episcopal ordination.
Mbabazi has maintained a long-standing relationship with the Church of Uganda. During his public career, he chaired fundraising and construction committees for All Saints’ Cathedral in Kampala and has supported various church programmes and development initiatives.
The former Prime Minister is also one of Uganda’s most prominent political figures. A lawyer by profession, he participated in the National Resistance Army’s liberation struggle before taking on several senior government positions following the NRM’s rise to power in 1986.
He later served as Minister of State for Defence, Minister of Security, Minister of Defence, Attorney General and Secretary General of the National Resistance Movement.
In 2011, President Yoweri Museveni appointed Mbabazi Prime Minister, a position he held until 2014. He later fell out politically with the ruling establishment and contested for the presidency as an independent candidate in the 2016 General Election.
