The Diocese of Nambia has elected the Rev. Patrick Djuulume, a native Namibian, as its next bishop.
On 29 April 2022 the Namibian diocesan synod chose Bishop-elect Djuulume from among four candidates at the church’s elective assembly held at Odibo in the Ohangwena region. The Namibian newspaper reports the Rev. Nangula Kathindi and the Rev. Taarah Shalyefu were eliminated in the early rounds of voting, and after the eight round the Rev. Linea Haufiku-Mukete withdrew, allowing BIshop-elect Djuulume to be unanimously elected on the ninth ballot.
Bishop-elect Djuulume succeeds the Rt. Rev. Luke Pato, a South African national who was appointed bishop of Namibia by the Anglican Church of Southern Africa’s House of BIshops in 2016 after that year’s elective assembly failed to elect a candidate.
The Southern African church’s provincial executive officer, The Rev. Canon Makhosi Nzimande, released a statement on 30 April 2022 saying: The Archbishop and Metropolitan has received news from the Dean of the Province, Bishop Stephen Diseko, that after the eighth ballot, the Revd Patrick Djuulume was elected as Bishop of Namibia to succeed Bishop Luke Pato. Please pray for the Bishop-elect, his wife, Hilma Johanes Djuulume, their family and the Diocese as they prepare for his consecration.”
