By KT Reporter
The Mwanga II Magistrates’ Court has issued arrest warrants for Tracy Namugga, Patrick Ayebare , and Abdul Kayondo, who had stood as sureties for Moses Tumwine, one of nine youths accused of falsely accusing Pastor Robert Kayanja of sodomy. The other accused are Peter Serugo, Reagan Ssentongo, Khalifa Labeeb, Alex Wakamala, Martins Kagolo, Israel Wasswa, Jamil Mwanda, and Aggrey Kinene.
The warrants were issued on Monday by Senior Principal Grade One Magistrate Adams Byarugaba, following a request by Chief State Attorney Jonathan Muwaganya, the lead prosecutor in the case. Muwaganya requested the warrants, citing the sureties’ failure to produce Tumwine for trial as ordered. He also asked the court to extend the warrant to Tumwine himself, who remains at large despite police efforts to locate him.
Magistrate Byarugaba granted the requests, directing that the trial proceed in Tumwine’s absence and ordering the remaining co-accused to defend themselves against charges of trespassing at Rubaga Miracle Cathedral with intent to annoy Pastor Kayanja. So far, Martin Kagoro, one of the accused, has taken the witness stand to defend himself.
He narrated how he met Pastor Kayanja and was assigned various roles, starting as an usher at Miracle Centre Church and later being promoted to security officer after receiving training at the Police Training School in Kabalye. Kagoro testified that Pastor Kayanja ordered that he be armed with a pistol and an AK-47 and that he be paid 100,000 shillings per month by a woman named Annette every Sunday.
However, the magistrate has advised Kagoro to confine his testimony to matters relevant to the charges against him. Magistrate Byarugaba reminded him that details such as escorting Pastor Bujingo’s wife, Teddy Bujingo, were irrelevant to the case. In earlier testimony in October 2024, Pastor Robert Kayanja told the court that the nine individuals had falsely accused him of sodomy. He alleged a conspiracy to frame him, linking one of the accused, Israel Wasswa, to Pastor Ssenyonga, a longtime rival.
Pastor Kayanja expressed frustration over repeated false accusations, citing previous cases in 2010 and 2013. In 2010, five pastors — Solomon Male, Michael Kyazze, Martin Sempa, Mukalazi, and Deborah Kyomuhendo — were found guilty of falsely accusing him but were sentenced to only 100 hours of community service by the Buganda Road Chief Magistrates’ Court. In 2013, Moses Muhanguzi and Ibrahim Nsubuga also falsely accused him and received non-deterrent sentences after attempting to bribe a doctor to fabricate evidence.
Declaring “Enough is enough,” Pastor Kayanja urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence on the current accusers to prevent future false accusations. The prosecution alleges that the accused persons and others still at large conspired on or about September 17, 2021, in Kampala District to falsely accuse Pastor Kayanja of unnatural offenses.
They are also charged with conspiracy to defeat justice, committing a felony, criminal trespass, and giving false information to the police. It is alleged that Serugo, Ssentongo, Khalifa, Wakamala, and Kagoro, while employed as police officers, intentionally gave false information to Detective IP Cotilda Nandutu, falsely claiming that Pastor Kayanja had committed unnatural offenses against them. The prosecution contends that they knowingly caused the police to waste time and resources investigating information they knew to be false-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
