By URN
Mwanga 2 Magistrates Court was filled on Monday as hundreds of people turned up to hear the testimony by Pastor Robert Kayanja of Rubaga Miracle Centre Church, as he took the stand to testify in the case in which nine people are accused of making false sodomy allegations against him.
The nine are Peter Serugo, Reagan SSentongo, Moses Tumwine, Khalifa Labeeb, Alex Wakamala, Martins Kagolo, Israel Wasswa, Jamil Mwanda, and Aggrey Kinene. The group appeared before the Principal Grade One Magistrate Adams Byarugaba with Chief State Attorney Jonathan Muwaganya representing the prosecution and Lawyer Humphrey Tumwesigye defending six of the accused persons while Robert Ojambo represents three.
The case began with the rectification of charge number four, with the defense expressing no objection to the amendment, which added the words “on or about” to the charge sheet. The defense lawyers agreed with the prosecution that this change would not require recalling any state witnesses back. Pastor Kayanja took the stand as the 13th prosecution witness, recounting how he met with the accused persons who were part of the group he described as Kifeesi. Kifeesi was a notorious criminal gang full of youth terrorizing City dwellers.
He said the group came to attend a revival dubbed 77 Dogs (Days of Glory) to give their lives back to God and denounce their bad dealings. He said that they were welcomed and rehabilitated and recruited to provide security for the church and farm in Kiryandongo district. Kayanja told the Court that subsequently, the group underwent training at the Police Training School in Kabalye and were deployed on a rotational basis, with arrangements for accommodations, medical care, food, and allowances after they completed the training.
Further, Kayanja has narrated that since they were still young, the arrangement was that they also keep some of the money up to when they go independent and give it to them as a lump sum. Pastor Robert Kayanja has revealed that he first came to know some of the accused individuals at a press conference held by the then-CID PRO Charles Twine.
At the conference, he said it was announced that Israel Wasswa and Kanene had been filing false cases against pastors, including Kayanja himself, at various police stations and that the accused persons had been arrested. He said the press conference indicated that cases were investigated and ultimately found to be baseless. Kayanja also mentioned another suspect, whom he came to know through a press conference at Kolping.
The suspect was in the company of Moses Tumwine, Kagoro Martin, and Wakamala. Although Kayanja didn’t attend the press conference, he said he saw the coverage on TV. The press conference claimed that Kayanja had sodomized the individuals and that they had been falsely accused and imprisoned.
However, Kayanja testified that reports of absenteeism, theft, fighting, and aggravated assault began to emerge, particularly under the leadership of Regan Ssentogo as they were deployed at the Kiryandongo farm. He cited an incident where one Peter Serugo disobeyed orders and got a gun at 1 am to attack someone in Kigumba, which was very far from their jurisdiction. Kayanja said he often communicated with Ssentongo, their leader, expressing concerns about abandoning their work but they denied it.
He said he later received a video of the group engaging in illicit activities in a bar including smoking shisha and having turned into Disc jockeys (DJs) and sent it to Ssentongo. Within an hour of receiving the video, they were at the Church.
“They told me they were tired of working. They wanted their salary. Because we were still in the lockdown, I explained to them that the money would be paid in installments as opposed to a lump sum which they agreed. I sent them to people who were concerned about Finance led by Fred Kisitu. They had gone through their accounts until they reached an amicable settlement of how much they should be paid and they were subsequently paid,” said Kayanja.
According to Kayanja, he was shocked that after their final payment, the accused persons started asking when they would return to work. The Court has heard that Kayanja later received disturbing reports and photos from the farm, including rotten fruits and over 30 dead cows. He subsequently sent a one Mukibi of NARO to investigate since he had a pickup and was allowed to move in the COVID lockdown and he confirmed the reports.
According to Kayanja, he then discovered that the group of the accused persons had joined Christian Life Church in Bwaise, working with Aggrey Kanene and Israel Wasswa. The Court has further heard that on September 17, 2021, the accused persons arrived at his Miracle Centre Church, and defeated the security by beating people at the gate and shouting false allegations of sodomy and all obscenities as they recorded themselves.
He said videos of the incident went viral, including recordings made inside police cells. Kayanja expressed shock and hurt, noting that similar allegations had been raised in 2010, involving five pastors who conspired to recruit victims. He named the pastors Solomon Male, Michael Kyazze, Martin Sempa, Mukalazi, and Deborah Kyomuhendo who added that they were found guilty and sentenced to 100 hours of community service by the Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court.
Kayanja also referenced a 2013 case where he was falsely accused of sodomizing two others, Moses Muhanguzi and Ibrahim Nsubuga. He said they decided to go to Mulago and bribe a medical doctor called Dr. Umaru, and he called the Police. According to Kayanja’s testimony, they wanted the doctor to falsify the results to show that Muhanguzi was sodomized whereas not.
He said they were arrested, tried in the High Court Anti-Corruption Division, found guilty, and sentenced to serve punishments in Luzira. After their arrest, Kayanja told the Court that a few days later they heard the passing of Apostle Mulinde’s son Gideon Mulinde. He noted that as they were conducting a funeral service so was Pastor Ssenyonga, who spoke before him.
Kayanja has testified that Ssenyonga said, “We have a monster in this place. He has been sodomizing young boys and when they went to demand their money, he got them arrested because he has bribed police and now they are in jail.”  Kayanja, who spoke with his voice deep as if he was to shed tears in court, said another incident was over three years ago, on Ssenyonga’s TV and radios, where he has reportedly publicly attacked him.
He narrated to Magistrate Adams Byarugaba that the most brutal day was “telling the whole world that I have marks in my private parts.” He said Israel Wasswa was the founder of what he described as fabricated news because he was the first to come out for the rescue of other accused persons after their arrest. Defense attorneys Humphrey Tumwesigye and Robert Ojambo requested an adjournment to consult with their clients, currently in prison, on how to cross-examine Kayanja.
However, the Prosecution opposed a three-day adjournment saying that the defense wanted to scandalize cross-examination, adding that when they knew that Pastor Kayanja was coming, they decided to mobilize media. Consequently, the defense lawyers have been directed to cross-examine Kayanja today. Cross-examination is ongoing.
The Prosecution alleges that the accused persons and others still at large on or about September 17th, 2021, in Kampala District conspired together to falsely accuse Pastor Kayanja of unnatural offenses. They are further accused of conspiracy to defeat justice, committing a felony, criminal trespass, and giving false information to police.
It is alleged that Serugo, Ssentongo, Khalifa, Wakamala, and Kagoro, while employed in Public Service as Police officers, gave false information to police detective IP Cotilda Nandutu saying that Pastor Kayanja had performed unnatural offenses with them. The Prosecutors say they did this intentionally knowing that they would cause the said Nandutu and police to devote time and services to investigate information they knew was false.
