Governance

The Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC) is registered under the Trustees Incorporation Act of Uganda (Cap 165) and jointly owned by the Catholic Bishops in Uganda. The Uganda Catholic Secretariat (UCS) operates under the legal person of the Episcopal Conference, as its technical arm. The Secretariat is organized in several departments and units, for the various fields of apostolate of the Catholic Church.

These different departments and units are over seen by their respective Commissions, established by the Episcopal Conference. In 1955, to provide for the co-ordination of the growing apostolate of the sick, the by then Interdiocesan Secretariat established a Bureau which received recognition by the Colonial Government as gazetted organization under the name of Uganda Catholic Medical Bureau (UCMB). After the establishment of the Uganda Episcopal Conference and of the Catholic Secretariat in 1971, UCMB was incorporated in the new Secretariat, as self accounting department.

In line with the Episcopal Conference’s Statutes, a Commission for Medical and Health matters, chaired by a Bishop appointed by the Conference, was also established to oversee the operations of UCMB, grant proper guidance and be a forum for governance and accountability. Such Commission was earlier known as Medical Commission. The Commission’s name was changed from “Medical” to “Health” at the time of the review of its roles and functions in 1997.