Kiwani (Fake) Pastors in
Uganda's Church - The Public Uproar
Compiled by Kato
Mivule
>>What
are the churches after?
>>Mobile
Text messages - Public Reactions
>>More
Reactions About Kiwani (Fake) Pastors
>>Reactions
to our undercover story
>>How
should we deal with ‘pastors’ who con their flock?
>>I
say, all Pentecostal pastors are frauds
>>Being
born-again does not make you Christian
>>Prosperity
and the gospel
>>Born-again
churches are businesses
>>Pastors,
do some of you have any sense of shame?
>>Museveni
warns pastors
>>Is
Jesus for sale?
>>Yes,
the Pentecostals are being targeted
>>Shouldn’t
pastors borrow a leaf from the late Pope?
>>How
are born-again pastors unique?
>>Pentecostals
are being targeted
>>Media,
check the other churches too
>>Turning
God into a slot gadget!
>>Reeling
from 'holy spirit' machine
>>Abandon
the pastors
>>Pastor
Sserwada should help the Police
>>Who
approved the Entebbe Road contract?
>>Kakande
alumbye Muwanguzi ku by’emmotoka
>>Gavt.
egudde mu lukwe lw’abasumba mwe bayita okunyaga abantu
>>Omusumba
Mayambala azirikidde mu lutalo
>>Gwe
baakutte n’ekyuma e Ntebe bamugobye mu Uganda
>>Omuwala
omulala alumiriza musumba Iga okumukaka omukwano
>>Omukazi
gwe baakutte n’omusumba Iga ow’e Kawaala ayogedde
==============================================================
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/21/577324
What are the churches
after?
Sunday, 22nd July, 2007
E-mail article E-mail article Print article Print article
EDITOR—I read Joy Mananu’s letter on july 18 with amusement.
Mananu says that the traditional churches are to blame for the
children and youth flocking to fake churches. She says the
mainstream churches have abandoned or have been complacent in
their duty of winning men for christ.
what i would want to know from her is whether these so-called
churches she says have their marketing strategy right are really
marketing for christ or just confusing and exploiting people. I
don’t believe the Catholic church or any other mainstream church
be it Anglican or Orthodox is responsible for what is happening
in the Pentecostal Churches.
The problem is we christians no longer want to seek the truth!
we want a church that makes us feel ‘good’.
Ameny Remy
Kampala
===============================================================
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=616&newsId=577156
Mobile Text
messages - Public Reactions
What more can l add to the astounding report by your undercover
reporter? He/she did a wonderful job of exposing these so-called
men of God who claim to know God more than the rest of us!
Anonymous One of the pastors conned me of my money two years ago
under the guise that he was borrowing it.
Susan Ongom
I wish to thank the undercover writer for exposing the tricks of
the trade in the so-called born-again churches. These people
have dried up shops. Julius Okiror, Kumi
Congratulations to your undercover reporter. Pastor Ronnie and
Betty Badda of Liberty Praising Centre should be brought to book
for misleading desperate church goers.
Julius Kuloba,
Mbale
I live in Luzira just opposite a strange new worship
establishment along the Luzira-Bbina road just after Lakeside
College. Is this not the place?
Erick Uyaru
It leaves no doubt that the Kibweteres are very much still with
us. These extortions in the end lead to mass killings.
Wava, Mbarara
I believe that some of the pastors fleecing people are taking
advantage of their depressions. But I would like to listen to
the recordings, say on radio or TV.
Solomon Oine
Thank you for the undercover report. Now get on those who use
electric touch. Mwije, Nkumba University
It is sad, very sad to note that as the rate of evil rises so do
the riches of pastors. Why dwell on sowing every time?
Menya, Masindi
Please deploy more undercover reporters in all balokole churches
and expose the pastors so as to save their fleeced followers.
James Esenga
The Government has a duty to protect its people from this
creeping form of organised crime. This is organised crime.
Period. Robert Shaka
Haven’t the pastors realised who you are after you published the
story? Justine Nanyanzi
The Baddas and their prayer team still have a chance for eternal
life if they can repent of their evil ways of survival and do
what Zacchaeus did. Alfred Abong
Thanks for the revelations on pastors. I have always maintained
that it is stupid for someone to go to a pastor. How can a
Christian go to be prayed for by a pastor?
Anonymous
In reaction to Pastor Badda’s story and the idea of sowing,
Christians like us are doing something about it. We teach people
how to start and run successful business.
Livingstone
Mukasa
What a curse. After civil, its now spiritual wars on the masses
through the Church. We should read the Bible instead of hooking
devils from the Church.
DVD, Kitgum
Your sample frame was too narrow. Please cover more churches to
make the headline more convincing. Otherwise the headline was
good, but coverage narrow!
Edward Sempijja
We’ve always suspected that born-again Churches are weird. Those
who were cheated deserved it, as it is obvious these are broad
daylight thieves. Margaret Kafeero, Kabowa
Thanks a lot for the articles. I have been following them. I am
so glad you have exposed such kiwani (fake) pastors. But I also
blame the followers who believe their lies.
Hellen
Arinaitwe
Your story was terrible. I am preparing a detailed bibilical
analysis on sowing to enlighten the public so that they don’t
fall victim. Evangelist Patrick Anguria
The fact that the Baddas have so far made no response to your
story is quite revealing.
Enos Maate, Kasese
You don’t need anybody to get to God. We all go to him through
Jesus. Those pastors will burn in hell.
Adyeri
Pastor Ronnie and his wife might have conned many people
already. The Police should take action.
Frank Twinamatsiko
The Government must start investigating churches and pastors who
twist scriptures to suit their whims.Ivy
I must say I am disappointed in Ugandans that believe in that
crap. How can you be so stupid? How?
Stella Kwera
I have sown in pastors Ssembera, Muwanguzi and Lindon’s
churches; sh27,000, sh26,000 and sh5,000 respectively but all in
vain. Churches should be abolished quickly.
Ben
Many pastors are taking advantage of desperate people. Let
Ugandans stand warned and test all prophesy before giving in to
them under duress. Harriet
Sowing in church depends in how much faith you have in the God
you serve. Willey Graham
This is daytime robbery. These pastors should be tried. The
Government should protect the citizens! I hope people learn from
this story. Dr. Anita
Published on: Saturday, 21st July, 2007
=================================================================
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=616&newsId=577155
More
Reactions About Kiwani (Fake) Pastors
Born-again Christians at a crusade at Namboole Stadium
Your special report on born-again pastors was really good. It
has exposed some of the rot in the Christian movement. Some
people purport to be messengers of God, but use His name to
fleece unsuspecting innocent followers. This is an abomination.
However, it’s not new. During Jesus’ ministry on earth, He did
not direct His wrath at the Romans, the dreaded tax collectors
or even the prostitutes and thieves. He went for the religious
leaders, then called Pharisees and Sadducees, whom He called
hypocrites.
Let’s make a contrast between the Pharisees of Jesus’ time and
the pastors of today and see if there are any similarities:
First, the Pharisees;
1. Pharisees were mega-show-offs (Matthew 6:1-2).
2. Pharisees loved to pray... Yes, pray for the gallery to be
seen and appreciated by men (Matthew 6:5).
3. Pharisees wore the most flamboyant clothes (Matthew 23:5).
4. Pharisees insisted on being given the best seat at every
occasion (Matthew 23:6).
5. Pharisees loved to be recognised and greeted by people
(Matthew 23:7).
6. Pharisees looked down on sinners (Luke 18:11).
Then, the pastors;
1. Pastors these days make sure that their presence is felt.
Everything they do must be announced for all to hear. Some move
in posh cars with a convoy of acolytes.
2. We now have ‘morning glory’, ‘lunch hour’ and ‘evening glory’
presided over by our pastors. Oh! And overnight prayers! And, of
course, they instruct their followers to give an offering or sow
a seed.
3. There seems to be a specific dress fashion for pastors.
Flashy colours and materials, long jackets and strange ties and
collars. And then those shoes! If you fail to identify a pastor
from his clothes, you will not fail to do so if you look at his
shoes.
4. Have you ever been to a function where pastors are invited?
They will remain standing until the best seat has been set up
for them.
5. Pastors are most uncomfortable when they are not publicly
recognised. But when the lines form to greet them, they proudly
glow. Most move around with a large entourage just to make sure
that people know who they are.
6. They exude arrogance that is short of God’s glory. A troubled
follower in need of counselling can spend days outside the door
of the pastor without getting an appointment. And pastors are
heard grumbling: “What do these people want from me? I don’t
have time for poor people.” Others, especially the more senior
ones, just decide to keep a whole congregation waiting for hours
on end. And for absolutely no other reason than to show how
powerful they are. Worse still is the well-thought out plan of
hijacking souls away from God. They get people to follow them
and believe in them rather than in God and Jesus. Many people
today would put up a bigger fight in defence of their pastor
than Jesus. So what can we do? We must pray that God will
deliver His people from these wicked pastors. And also that they
may repent of their deceitful ways and serve the only true God.
God promised not abandon His people and said: “I will never
leave you nor forsake you.” God will save those who believe in
Him.
- John Kato
From 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 I take the following lessons:
1. Sowing/giving to God is biblical.
2. One should expect higher returns from hard work.
3. One should sow according to one’s means/resources without
strain.
4. One should not be coerced/intimidated/ threatened to sow
under duress.
5. God prefers freewill offerings to persuaded/extorted ones.
Because sowing is biblical, opportunists have manipulated
scripture to con desperate, innocent people. The conmen/women,
have borrowed a leaf from the devil, who, on finding our Lord
Jesus hungry after 40 days of fasting, tempted Him to turn stone
into food, if at all He was a son of God. (Luke 4:1-4) What the
devil did not know, was that Jesus was neither desperate to eat
nor to prove his status to anyone (as the victims of
unscrupulous pastors are today).
My caution to all Christians is that the devil knows all our
desires and lusts. He takes advantage of these to steal, kill
and destroy us. Tame your anxieties/desires and know that one
flourishes through hard work, patience and, above all, God’s
blessing, not quick wonders christened ‘miracles’.
Sowing/giving is Biblical. So plan to obey and do it from the
bottom of your heart without being coerced. Test your teachers
for practical leadership examples. Do they sow in the same
measure as they command you to do? In addition, learn to read
scripture yourself.
To the men of God, this is a challenge to clean up their act.
‘Pastorship’ must be institutionalised. There should be some
minimum formal preparation or instruction given to those
aspiring to become pastors, with laid down sanctions against
errant ones. Stop covering up sin among church leaders in the
mask of “the untouchable anointed ones”. I can state boldly that
because they are not anointed, God is exposing their wickedness
in broad daylight for everyone to see.
- George Wasswa Ssempebwa
St. Luke’s Church of Uganda, Nabweru
I HAVE been following your undercover reporter’s revelations of
the machinations and manipulations that go on in born-again
churches.
It has reinforced my suspicion that many of the ‘pastors’ are
self-seekers, materialistic and bordering on being agents of the
devil.
I’m a born-again Christian, having gotten saved on December 27,
2002 at Kawaala Miracle (now Gospel) Centre in Kawempe Division.
My decision to get saved was voluntary.
At the time, I believed ‘miracles’ were real and that one day
I’d fall down as many believers did. However, I did not undergo
any such spasms (and I have never). I started developing
suspicions when the pastors (and all preachers, including guest
ones) dwelt mainly on sowing, tithing, etc. Many of the sermons
concentrated on prosperity through offering, exorcism, etc.
I was especially uneasy with the application of anointing oil on
believers. Perhaps Rochelle Gibler’s revelations about the evil
nature of a number of pastors in Uganda (in The Monitor in 2003
and her appearance online during the then Andrew Mwenda Live
talkshow) acted as an eye-opener.
This was followed by the ‘underwater’ ventures and occultism by
many people seeking wealth and power to perform miracles. I
realised how the path I had embarked on could easily make me
worship the devil or join occultism. I read and consulted widely
about the issue and, after some soul-searching; I abandoned the
born-again churches and returned to my original church
(Anglican), where I remain a born-again Christian. That aside, I
am still perplexed by the opulence and grandeur of many pastors.
Although I give offerings in church, I doubt preachers who hype
the importance of tithing.
Could you please, embark on a similar investigation into how the
‘pastors’ have amassed their wealth?
You could also do us great service by doing a follow-up of the
research recently conducted on the spread of cultism in Uganda
(I think the Uganda Joint Christian Council was instrumental in
the research).
Let’s hope your efforts won’t be swept under the carpet as have
previous revelations. A lot more needs to be done, for instance
how the Kibwetere cultic movement took the lives of many people
undetected and how the leader vanished into thin air.
- Biromaiso Akiiki
Nansana, Wakiso
Sadly I have been forced to write about the ongoing pastors’
money-making schemes, electric shocks and sodomy. It is
appalling that the very place people are supposed to seek
shelter is the very place they face trouble.
Indeed we are living in the last days as the Bible says. In Mark
13:6, we are told: “Many will come in my name, claiming: ‘I am
he,’ and will deceive many”. It talks about those who will
preach in the name of Jesus and yet lead people away from the
true Gospel.
Secondly, 2 Timothy 3:1-4 says: “But mark this: There will be
terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive,
disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love,
unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not
lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God.” Isn’t that what we see
happening nowadays?
The Gospel of Christ is not about making money, getting rich or
getting a visa (which is the reason why most people go to
born-again churches). The Gospel is about love, eternal life and
grace.
People have made themselves prey to these fake pastors by not
knowing the truth. The good book says the truth shall set you
free. Knowing the truth may not be through giving your car or
house, but developing a relationship with Christ, and not your
pastor.
It is good to know these men of God, but we should not depend on
them for answers. Rather pastors are to give us spiritual
guidance to understand the principles of God. I have a good
relationship with Pastor Isaac Kiwewesi of Kansanga Miracle
Centre. I consult him on personal issues and he willingly
counsels me without asking for anything in return.
Over the years I have come to realise that sinners are closer to
God than ‘saints,’ for they acknowledge they are sinners and are
willing to receive God’s grace. If those pastors who have been
implicated in this scam acknowledge their wrongs, God will draw
them closer to Himself.
Having said that, it is yet to be proved whether these pastors
mentioned in the press have done what is written about them, and
secondly it’s not my duty to condemn them, but on the other hand
I feel obliged to defend the good name of Christ and his church
in Uganda.
Last but not least, all of us are sinners, but by his God’s
grace we become saints. Who are we to cast the first stone?
- Ivan Lule Kyeyune
Middlesex, UK
Are these so-called pastors still in business or has anyone
already ambushed them? They need to be taken to the courts of
law. They are real criminals. I think most of what they have
done is unreported. People should think twice while choosing
which churches to go to and which pastors are worth sharing
problems with since the majority of them seem to be
opportunists!
- Linda Kembabazi
Published on: Saturday, 21st July, 2007
=================================================================
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=616&newsId=577153
Reactions to our
undercover story
The Sunday Vision undercover
story on Pastor Badda's Liberty Praising Centre church has
provoked a flood of emails and text messages from readers. Below
are some of your responses
I was so happy to read that article. I think it is high time the
people of God really saw what some of the leaders/pastors have
turned into. In Ezekiel 34, the Bible talks about good and bad
shepherds.
What is the test of a bad shepherd?
Ezekiel 34:1-4 says: “Prophecy against the shepherds... and say
to them: This is what the sovereign Lord says: woe to the
shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves. Should not
the shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe
yourselves with wool... but you do not take care of the flock.
You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound
up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched
for the lost. You have ruled over them harshly and brutally.”
The Bible is very clear about pastors who take advantage of
their flock. They will be judged. God does not approve of
pastors manipulating their congregations. Ezekiel 34:7-10a says:
“Therefore you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely
as I live... because my shepherds did not search for my flock
but cared for themselves rather than for my flock... I am
against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my
flock.
“I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds
can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their
mouths and it will no longer be food for them.”
I think that Christians are taken advantage of because they have
the misconception that God can only bless them through the
pastors. People hardly read their bibles and wait to hear what
the pastor says because they think the pastor is God’s
mouthpiece.
The truth is that the Bible is the living word of God and it is
the primary and most important in which God speaks to his
children. People believe a lie because they do not know what the
Bible says about their situation. We want quick solutions to our
problems and sometimes find ourselves desperate.
We prefer to hear somebody tell us what we want to hear even if
we have to pay for it. If you want to hear what you want to
hear, you may as well go to a shrink (psychiatrist) instead of a
pastor. Shrinks are paid to soothe our emotions. Pastors are
supposed to deliver the unadulterated word of God.
I am not writing this with a holier-than-thou-attitude. I
learned from experience. I used to be a church-hopper. I went to
most of the “famous” Pentecostal churches in Kampala.
I remember feeling guilty each time a demand for a huge sum of
money was made. The kind of language the pastors would use to
ask for money would make you burn with guilt if you had the
money but did not go forward to give it. I became angry when I
saw these same pastors driving posh vehicles and yet their poor
congregations were made to pay for such lifestyles. I remember
that in 2001, I was in church when a heart-wrenching plea was
made for the building fund. I went forward and pledged sh1m.
Soon after that, the pastor got the microphone, strutted around
and proudly announced that his children had just got a playset
worth sh16m. I was so incensed that I walked out and never
honoured that pledge. I believe that God opened my eyes that day
to what spiritual manipulation is.
I have been told that there are some churches here in the US
where pastors deliver a sermon on sowing and after that, direct
the congregation to go outside and use their ATM cards to sow
into the ministry. I have not been to one of those churches, but
I now know better than to attend a church like that.
In Uganda, I saw desperate people go forward and give their last
pennies in order to get a favour from God so that they could get
visitor’s visas and go to do kyeyo (odd jobs abroad). How can
you ask God to bless you to go and do something illegal? The
idea of a visitor’s visa is to visit and not to work. Why would
a pastor take someone’s money and encourage them that God will
blind the immigration officers to the applicant’s visa overstay?
It is wrong that pastors have taken advantage of their flock.
Believers have genuine faith in God, but are sometimes naïve and
it is high time people started reading their Bibles. There are
no shortcuts to leading a righteous life, no matter how many
promises to the contrary are given by pastors.
Tithing is biblical and we should support the work of God. There
are some credible churches in Uganda that have kept the faith
and they have audits and have an accountability system in place.
Such a system helps to prevent financial abuse.
I do not think that people should lose faith in the Church
because of all this exposure. The exposure is good so that
people’s eyes will be opened. They need to find solid places of
worship in order to grow. The other day somebody told me
something that made me think deeply. This person said: “We tithe
for God’s work and God’s work is not just done in the Church.”
There are so many fertile areas where God’s people can give. We
do not have to make a public show of giving as some pastors have
encouraged people to do. Some people want you to wave notes in
the air.
Now, how is someone without
money supposed to feel — small maybe? Jesus said we should give
and when we give, the left hand should not know what the right
hand has done.
Having said that, what is the test of a true shepherd/pastor?
According to John 10, a good shepherd is a watchman for his
sheep, he leads his sheep by example and goes before them
leading them to good pasture. The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep.
Anonymous Ugandan
living in the US
Published on: Saturday, 21st July, 2007
===================================================================
http://www.monitor.co.ug/sunday/oped/sms07221.php
July 22 - 28, 2007
SMS: How should we deal with ‘pastors’ who con their flock?
These pastors have positioned themselves in urban areas where
people are financially okay. None of them has a base in IDP
camps where spiritual guidance is urgently required. Pastors are
indeed for the rich.
Alex Thumitho,
Nebbi.
The pastors have no case to answer since followers voluntarily
offer themselves.
Leo Kibahiganira.
All these are ways of exploiting and killing the poor -- the
Kibwetere way. The latter killed more than one 1,000 people as
the government watched. The government backs pastors. Remember
pastor Robert Kayanja's prophecy about the death of one
presidential candidate. Who died?
Jane K, Rukungiri.
Jesus said: "My father is working, and I am also working. A son
will only do what he has seen the father do." Is there any
difference between the two?
James Katasiima,
Kampala.
This is what you are bound to end up with, since there is no
central body in the Pentecostal ideology -- as in the
traditional creeds. Anyone [Pentecostals] is free to set up a
church and to become a pastor!
They mushroom due to lack of fulfilment in the traditional
churches. It is a great challenge to win back these lost souls
from the false prophets. Over to cardinals and archbishops.
Silver Opira,
Pader.
Let us leave them to God -- to burn at their end. Amen.
Frank, Kampala.
Satan uses them more frequently. They target desperate,
heart-broken cowards who cannot face challenges.
People should revise the Bible, but not rush to organised
'spiritual' gambling master crooks. Such pastors should be
prosecuted if found guilty.
Anon.
Ethics Minister Nsaba Buturo should go ahead and draft a law
that will regulate these churches.
Solomon Epenyu, Bugiri.
ESTEEMED readers,
You can now vent your views on a specific topic via SMS from
your mobile phone sets. To participate, type “letters” followed
by your quick opinion and then send your SMS to “197”. Please
sign your name, only SMS’with names shall be published.
Next Subject: What do you think of the exchanges between the
President and the Minister of Local Government, Kahinda Otafiire,
over markets?
=============================================================
http://www.monitor.co.ug/sunday/oped/oped07223.php
OPINIONS & COMMENTARIES
ON THE MARK | Alan Tacca
I say, all
Pentecostal pastors are frauds
July 22 - 28, 2007
For the seventh of July, 2007,
Pastor Martin Sempa of Makerere Community Church (and other
Pentecostal pastors) organised a package of celebrations, which
they called 777 Mega-Fest. Hosted at Makerere's main sports
ground, the 26-hour marathon event was scheduled to start at 5pm
on July 6. According to a July 6 Daily Monitor preview, Pastor
Sempa believed the repetitive seven marked a day of wonder and
special significance in God's prophetic calendar.
In the West, where ignorance, faddish superstition and
consumerism sometimes form an odd montage against a backdrop of
advanced civilisation, thousands of people paid attention to
777, and many couples got married on the day.
The Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) of
course had their roots in ancient Middle Eastern and Asian
paganism. When God - part super Pharaoh and part super magician
- was young, His creators did not extricate Him from their
long-standing preoccupation with numbers: 3, 7 and 12 making
frequent appearances.
Human civilisation has made huge strides in mathematics,
astronomy and cosmology since biblical times. For anyone who has
attempted to internalise the sheer scale of the universe, it
must be blinkered idleness to seriously link any particular
calendric coincidence to some overarching divine agenda
dedicated to human affairs.
That approach belongs to the same dustbin as the dubious
"science" of astrology.
Pastor Sempa knows that he is being fraudulent when he leads the
semi-literate young undergraduates who form the bulk of his
congregation to a binge of special prayers and worship to mark
777, describing it as the day symbolising 2007, "a year of God's
unprecedented blessings." Comparing this period of spiritual
abundance to El Nino rains, Sempa throws in the inevitable
clincher: "If the farmers knew about this season, they would
plant much and harvest much."
Is it a spiritual sowing? Maybe. Is it a material sowing? That
cannot be ruled out. In any trade, a subtle practitioner learns
to disguise his motives. But my central target is not even
pastoral profiteering; it is the very heart - the doctrinal
underpinnings - of the Pentecostal ethos.
Pastor Sempa and other "good" pastors (including Ronald
Kayanja!) have been quick to distance themselves from the
"frauds" accused of sodomy, extortion and overt manipulation,
but none of them has renounced the dubiously simplistic notion
that they are specially empowered (anointed) intercessors,
standing between ordinary humans and the spirit world; that
through them the will and the power of God are casually
accessible.
They have not renounced their return to a grotesque paganism
that masquerades as born-again. Yeboah Jr. would (presumably)
manipulate his followers with a 12-volt electric shock machine.
Because the process is overtly mechanical, Yeboah's type is
readily recognised as a fraud.
Sempa, Kayanja and others regularly manipulate their followers
with weird performances and 120-decibel psychedelic sounds.
Because the effects on their victims are expressed in hidden
brain cell activity, the frauds generally pass as innocent. And
in this market place, the "good" pastors must now be eyeing the
deserters from the other camp.
But the pastors are tapping into a ready-made reservoir. In many
homes, not only is a religious upbringing flaunted as a moral
upbringing, but also a non-religious upbringing is fallaciously
projected as a non-moral upbringing. In infant schools, where
barely literate instructors parrot religious hogwash to millions
of kids, the general view is that those lessons are useful; or,
at any rate, that they are harmless because they are elementary!
Higher up, religious education tends to be convictional and
denominational, instead of being comparative and critical.
During their holidays, the teenagers are lured to mass mind
control crusades, where politicians and pastors see them as
herds of future voters and tithe hostages.
At various colleges, where they would expand their knowledge and
develop their critical powers, they find an education regime
that teaches them to become "mechanics." When will the pastors
face an authentic educated class that instructs them that they
are all frauds?
altacca@yahoo.com
=============================================================
http://www.monitor.co.ug/sunday/oped/oped07225.php
Opinions | MORALITY | July 22 -
28, 2007
Being
born-again does not make you Christian
Roger Mugisha
I had deliberately chosen to ignore the current discussion about
the born-again pastors and their vices, because I thought, like
many other Christian friends, that the reports were not news in
the church circles.
Interestingly, had it been an expose of any of the 'traditional
religions' there would have been a serious backlash from the
faithful. Yes, there is a serious problem in the born-again
churches and there are probably filthier, or more stinking
stories that are yet to be published.
The question here is: why, despite all the bad press that the
pastors are getting, are there more and more people flocking to
the churches? And how come the elite members of the born- again
community in the market place have chosen to keep quiet; why
haven't they spoken out on the issue? Well, the answer takes us
back to the great commission in the Bible where Jesus instructed
his followers to "go into the world and make disciples,"
teaching them what he had commanded (Mathew 28:19-20).
This instruction gives a corporate responsibility to all who
believe and are called by his name and are baptised. Believing
and conversion may happen instantly. But being a Christian is a
lifelong process of transformation to Godly habits -- replacing
the former. Very few converts make it to this next stage -- the
Christian walk (Luke 9:23). It is the second step you take after
conversion. And like human growth, it does not happen instantly;
it takes daily commitment. And Jesus made a provision for our
mistakes at Calvary.
What is the problem in the church today? Simple. Too many
converts who are not 'discipled' (the word originates from
discipline). After staying in the church for long, but without
growth, many start to feel that the long stay translates into an
automatic qualification to positions of leadership! And bingo:
one such fellow will start to refer to himself or herself as a
''pastor' -- without any preparation or authority above them to
oversee his or her activities.
The cycle continues. And before we realise what is going on, the
expansion becomes massive and runs out of control! Those who are
successful are emulated. And in copying, counterfeits are
created. The leadership and expansion model, which Jesus gave to
his disciples was not a hierarchy of the military chain of
command; from top to bottom. In fact it is the exact opposite;
it is from bottom to top. Jesus says that whoever wants to be
greater than others has to be the servant (Mathew 20:26-27). So
in the corporate world, a janitor is greater than the CEO.
In the church, the homeless and jobless guy with a Shs500 coin
ought to get the VIP seat. The expansion model of the church was
also designed to multiply -- the way living cells multiply;
starting off with the smallest cell of two or three people
(Mathew 18:20).
It ought to be horizontal growth -- i.e. we all have
complementary roles: a singer, prophet, teacher, pastor or
evangelist should all co-exist in one fellowship (read church).
Paul puts it this way: we are all different parts of the same
body with Christ as the head of the church (I Corinthians
12:12). From this model it is easy to identify the counterfeit
churches.
Yes, there are many born-again in Uganda today: from about
10,000 folks in 1986 to an estimated 6.5million converts today.
One would expect corruption to be history. But instead, the con
artists have increased in number! This means that the tree is
not bearing good fruit (Mathew7:16-20).
Before Jesus cuts down this tree, I plead with all who are
called by his name to pick up their cross and follow the way,
the truth and life which has been given freely to mankind. It is
not enough to convert: follow Jesus and by your works you will
be called a Christian follower of Christ.
It is not enough to be saved from the Egyptians after crossing
the Red Sea; you have to walk the desert to the Promised Land.
And to the false prophets, I say, your days are numbered. Repent
and you will be forgiven.
Remember, born-again is not a religion. It is a lifestyle choice
that one makes independently -- to have a personal relationship
with Jesus as the Bible instructs. That is why the head of the
Anglican Church in Uganda is born-again. And so are many
Catholic charismatics. And to the pastors, I say: do not be
de-focused with wealth and prosperity. The message we preach is
a message of amnesty for the sinner to take Jesus as the
atonement of our sins for we have all sinned!
The author was formerly known as the Shadow. He is a broadcaster
at KFM and a motivational speaker.
mugisharoger@yahoo.com
=============================================================
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=525&newsId=577140
Prosperity and the gospel
Apostle Francis Katongole left and Apostle Alex Mitala
The Sunday Vision undercover report on prosperity preachers has
ignited a debate about the authenticity of the prosperity
gospel. Moses Mulondo sought out the views of Francis Katongole,
a prominent prosperity preacher, and Alex Mitala, the chairman
of the National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches...
------------------------------------
Apostle Francis Katongole
-------------------------------------
Is the prosperity gospel in line with the Gospel?
If the prosperity gospel is removed from salvation, then Jesus’
coming was in vain. Salvation is not only about one thing: it
includes holiness, healing, faith, hope, and prosperity as well.
In Galatians 1:8, St. Paul tells the Galatians that if anyone
preaches a gospel different from the one that he preached to
them, should be cursed.
Paul was not referring to the prosperity gospel. This is because
Paul himself was a preacher of the prosperity gospel. Read 2
Corinthians 8:9: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became
poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”
Apostle Alex Mitala recently advised Christians to run away from
a church where a different gospel overshadows the gospel of
repentance. What is your take on that?
Well, when what is preached overshadows the repentance gospel,
it doesn’t mean that what is being preached is wrong. That
doesn’t remove the truth. That doesn’t mean it should not be
preached. All we need is to balance the different gospels
preached. You have to preach about holiness, faith, healing and
money. You get it, sow it and keep some.
What is repentance? I think repentance should be preached to the
non-believers. Do you think people come to church to repent? Do
you think we always have to be preaching repentance in the
church to people who repented? The answer is no. If the dominant
gospel preached in the church is of repentance, that means we
are not yet saved.
But 1John 1:8 says: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
That means whether you are a pastor or an apostle we all sin
somewhere somehow. What about that? I think the kind of
repentance talked about in that scripture is that you don’t have
to judge others, while thinking you are so holy.
So do you mean there are some people in the church who have
reached a level where they no longer need repentance?
No. If the need of a person is repentance and yet there is no
repentance gospel in the church, one is free to leave the
church.
What did Jesus mean when he said: “Seek first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness and the rest shall be added unto you”?
The Kingdom of God is not only about holy living. It embraces a
lot of things including the material wellbeing of believers.
Seeking his kingdom, therefore, means seeking all the knowledge
about his kingdom, including the prosperity knowledge. It is
through the preaching of the gospel of prosperity that a person
acquires the knowledge that will lead him to a prosperous life.
So if you are putting material things in the bracket of the
Kingdom of God, what then is in the category of the rest that
shall be added unto us?
The answer to that is simple. Once you have acquired the
knowledge about how to become rich through the prosperity
gospel, then afterwards riches will come to you if you have put
that knowledge in practice. The kingdom is a package.
The gospel of repentance should be preached everywhere, but for
those who are already saved, they need more than a repentance
gospel. They need the gospel of hope, faith, healing, and
prosperity as well. It is the combination of all these that
makes up the salvation that Jesus brought.
If a person sows, gives, and tithes but when he or she is still
walking under sin, will that person reap?
Instead it is an abomination and a sin for a person who is still
a sinner to give and tithe. God is holy and looks at the purity
of the hearts of those that give. He doesn’t reward those with
impure hearts.
Is it true that the more money one sows in the church the more
one prospers, as some prosperity gospel preachers say?
It is true. But it is matter of time. Some reap soon, others
take longer. It is God, to whom the gifts are given, who decides
the reaping time. In Luke 6 Jesus said, “Give and it shall be
given back to you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken
together, and running over, shall men give into your lap.
Another scripture in 2 Corinthians 9:6 says: “He who sows
sparingly shall reap also sparingly and he who sows plentifully
shall reap plentifully.
But there are many people who become rich without sowing.
That’s true. Actually there are three major ways of getting
rich: working, begging, and stealing. You can get rich in any
way, but once you are a child of God who has been washed by the
blood of Jesus, God asks you to give to Him back part of your
wealth. If you fail to do that, then there is a problem between
you and your Maker. You are expected to use your money for the
work of God and through that God, blesses you.
-----------------------------------
Apostle Alex Mitala
------------------------------------
Is the prosperity gospel the Gospel of Jesus?
First of all, people need to understand that there is nothing
called the prosperity gospel. That description is a creation of
the media and other misinformed people.
As a theologian, I know that the Gospel of Jesus is one but with
different components or ingredients. It would be a serious
mistake if I said sowing and giving offerings are not biblical.
The truth is that they are components of the Gospel of Jesus.
The mistake only comes in emphasising a particular component of
the Gospel.
Does that mean that you believe in the teaching: The more you
sow in a church the more you will reap?
The Bible doesn’t restrict sowing to the Church. That is the
major thing people need to know. While the tithes and offerings
are restricted to the Church, giving or sowing is not restricted
to the Church.
You can sow outside the Church by feeding the hungry, helping
needy people like orphans and widows, and in many other ways as
you please. The Bible says God will reward you for that.
What is your interpretation of the scripture: “But seek first
His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well.”
To seek the kingdom of God is to do godly acts that propel you
towards becoming a new creature that is in the nature of God.
Jesus was mainly referring to nonbelievers who had not yet
accepted him as their personal saviour. But after one has
embraced the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, then all the
benefits that are supposed to be enjoyed by the children of the
kingdom come to them.
Is seeking riches part of seeking the kingdom of God?
Riches, cars, marriage, etc, are in the category of the rest,
which have to be added unto us afterwards. It is God’s desire
that your life is transformed before you can get all these
things. That is because if you are not transformed you cannot be
a good steward of these things. Even marriage cannot stand the
storms of life if the marriage partners don’t have the character
of Jesus Christ.
Many churches teach more on wealth than holiness. Is that okay?
It is not okay. The foundation of Christianity is the gospel of
holiness. However, my message on this goes to all religions. I
warn anyone who claims to be following Jesus Christ: If there is
no move in your church to abandon our sinful nature, then run
away from it. You can only claim to be a child of God if your
deeds are godly.
In Romans 6, the Bible says the Kingdom of God is about holy
living. That is what it means to be born again. And that is what
Jesus meant when he said: “By their fruits you shall know them.”
The media leaves out the positive news — like stories about
people who were drunkards, prostitutes and witchdoctors, but who
have changed their lifestyles after getting saved. When a
mulokole steals it is news, but when a Catholic or Muslim
steals, it is not news.
You are the leader of born-again churches in Uganda. What are
you planning to do to counter the acts of pastors robbing their
flock?
That is a common mistake the media makes. I am not the leader of
all born-again churches. There are many umbrella organisations
for balokole. I only lead one of them, called the National
Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal Churches.
There are others like the
Evangelical Fellowship. It doesn’t mean those who don’t belong
to my organisation are not born-again Christians, and there are
also many churches that don’t belong anywhere.
Pastors of such churches act independently for fear of checks
and balances from the codes of conduct of the existing umbrella
organisations. It is in that category that you get many churches
like that of William Muwanguzi in Namulanda.
What you have said seems to give a picture of a church that is
segmented. Don’t you think there is need for unity to bring all
these churches under one leadership?
The thinking that churches are segmented is your assumption. The
purpose of the umbrella groups I have talked about is for checks
and balances, not leadership. Pentecostals don’t operate like
the Catholics, who are under the leadership of one Pope.
We reserve that glory for Jesus Christ as the leader of the
Church, because that is what the Bible teaches us.
For instance, the Anglican Church, which is under the leadership
of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is currently grappling with the
problem of gay bishops. Spiritual leadership is therefore not
the problem.
What should be the way forward for the mushrooming fake churches
you have talked about?
We have come up with a resolution requesting the Government to
formulate an Act of Parliament regulating and guiding all
religious denominations in the country. The act of registering
churches or mosques as NGOs and companies should also stop.
Registration of churches should be removed from the Ministry of
Internal Affairs to the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity. In
this ministry, there is need to establish a strict religious
affairs department to monitor religious activities in the
country.
Otherwise, our people will continue to fall prey to the
predatory hands of these ill-intentioned churches similar to
that of Joseph Kibwetere in Kanungu. But of course these
regulations should not deprive people of their freedom of
worship.
Published on: Saturday, 21st July, 2007
====================================================================
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=131&newsId=577161
Born-again
churches are businesses
I AM responding to Pastor
Joseph Serwadda’s article that appeared in the New vision on
July 18. Serwadda did not like the idea of registering
born-again churches as non-governmental organisations (NGO),
citing the ungodly and sinful nature of the other NGO executives
who smoke pipes and cigarettes at conferences. Talk of the
judgemental holier-than-thou attitude from the pastor!
If the born-again Christians do not want to be registered as
NGOs then they should register as private businesses. Then they
should pay taxes on the profits that they get from their
congregations’ tithe and offertory. They should also be ready to
pay traders’ licences.
- Stephen Mutinyu
Makerere University
-------------------------------------------
The ongoing stories about pastors and false prophets have become
a big issue in the media today. These conmen are not taking
advantage of people’s poverty, but people’s greed and
impatience. Many of these people that cry foul after being
robbed by the false pastors know the truth, but are looking for
a cheap quick way of becoming rich with the name of God attached
to it.
Basic logic can tell you that the Bible doesn’t require some
“blessed water” or money to ‘bribe’ God to get your miracle
quickly.
We are living in a real world and we ought to understand that
God performs miracles, not magic.
If we want God to work in our lives, we need to read the Bible,
believe it, pray, work hard and be patient. Unless people stop
believing in these pastors, they are abetting witchcraft in the
name of God.
- Miracle Henry
Kampala
Published on: Saturday, 21st July, 2007
===================================================================
http://www.monitor.co.ug/sunday/letters/index.php
Letters to the Editor | July 22 - 28, 2007
Pastors, do some of you have any sense of shame?
Allow me react to Aaron
Kavuma's letter (Daily Monitor of July 20), in which he claimed
that the Pentecostal churches were being targeted by the media.
For long, some pastors have extorted money from their flock and
gotten away with it.
Some of these churches have been turned into limited liability
companies; some pastors are involved in sex scandals with
people's wives; there is alleged witchcraft; and the latest is
the use of electronic gadgets to perform miracles! Now, Aaron,
who is being targeted? It is the ordinary person who is targeted
by some of these pastors. I wish these churches could be closed
and serious investigations get carried out.
Franklin Ezaruku Draku.
fradzy@hotmail.com
Thank you for contributing to the unveiling of pastors of our
day. It is ironical that some of them are now using
electro-magnetic devices to create 'miracles.' They are
inadvertently helping science to defeat the cause of their own
existence.
The behaviour of some pastors is no different from that of
witches who tell clients to bring white cocks, money, etc, in
exchange for miracles. The witches, for example, generate
strange voices from their own voice chords and dupe their
clients into believing that the gods are issuing commands!
So, what is the difference between them and some dodgy pastors?
Their umbrella organisation should moot a code of conduct. Else,
the government should set up a department of Religious Affairs
to regulate their activities. In addition, the income of these
pastors should be taxed.
Christopher Muwanga,
Nakasero, Kampala.
I WISH to remind pastors who are enriching themselves that there
are suffering widows and orphans out there. What would Jesus do?
He would take care of them instead of buying Hummers with
personalised number plates. Please humble yourselves.
Sylvia Kirabo.
princesssylvia2013@yahoo.com
===============================================================
http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=123&newsId=577195
Museveni warns pastors
Christians at a recent
evangelical crusade. The born-again church has recently come
under attack because of the behaviour of some pastors
By Cyprian Musoke and Elizabeth Namazzi
CRAFTY pastors who use deceit and trickery to extort money from
their followers should be arrested, President Yoweri Museveni
has said.
Addressing the press at State House, Nakasero on Friday,
Museveni said he has been hearing stories of sodomy, extortion
and trickery afflicting the Pentecostal churches.
“Obviously if someone is stealing the community’s money he
should be arrested. There is no compromise over that. We shall
arrest them,” he said.
He said he is reluctant to get involved in pointing out which
religion is good and which one is not, as long as they don’t
violate the law.
“We have got enough work building bridges, to know which
religion is doing what. If they steal people’s money we shall
just lock them up,” a tough-talking President Museveni stressed.
“Like these stories I have been hearing of sodomy in churches,
extorting money, and using electric gadgets; all those are
criminal things. That is impersonation. Somebody can be locked
up for that. All we need is evidence,” he said.
The media has lately been awash with stories of pastors in the
sprouting affluent Pentecostal churches preaching the “gospel of
prosperity”.
Some of the pastors ask for huge sums of money from their flock
in exchange for blessings.
Over the last three weeks Sunday Vision serialised a story by an
undercover reporter who joined a church in Kampala for three
months.
There, she saw how the pastors manipulated desperate followers
to part with their money and property.
The pastors convince followers to make big monetary and
non-monetary offerings for God to solve their social problems.
However, several Christians are finding themselves in deeper
problems, surrendering their properties to the Church and
borrowing money from banks to sow in order to reap blessings.
In another development, there are reports that some pastors are
being guarded by soldiers and security operatives.
Pastor Simeon Kayiwa of Namirembe Christian Fellowship confirmed
that he is being guarded by a UPDF soldier.
“I have a guard who is a soldier of the UPDF. He is here
officially and gets his movement orders from Bombo Barracks,” he
said on Friday.
Kayiwa revealed that army has been guarding him since 2003, when
he had problems with an American businesswoman who purported
that he used witchcraft in his church.
“Out of jealousy some people wanted to harm me. That is why I
got this guard who has arrested thieves and also caught a total
of 25 people with guns. I don’t know what they wanted to do to
me. But they were handed over to the Police,” Kayiwa explained.
Asked for a comment, army spokesman Maj. Felix Kulayigye said he
was not aware of any pastor being guarded by the military.
“No civilian is entitled to have military escorts unless
prescribed by the law,” he stated. Referring to Kayiwa he added:
“Tell that pastor that it is illegal to have a UPDF guard.”
Sunday Vision could not confirm reports that Pastor William
Mwanguzi of Holy Fire Ministries, Namulanda on Entebbe Road also
had a UPDF guard, as he could not be reached.
But a recent photograph in Bukedde, a Luganda daily, showed
Muwanguzi in the company of a man in army uniform.
However, it could not be established whether he was a follower
or an escort. Museveni said it was wrong for the army to guard
civilians.
He disclosed that he had instructed the Inspector General of
Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, to form a protection unit so
that anybody who wants security doesn’t have to use army men.
Transcript of the press conference in our Interview section
Related story on our Pastors series
Published on: Saturday, 21st July, 2007
============================================================
http://www.monitor.co.ug/sunday/oped/oped07222.php
BALOKOLE | Fr Larry Kanyike
Is
Jesus for sale?
July 22 - 28, 2007
MAKERERE UNIVERSITY
I have been reading with interest about what is going on among
the self-proclaimed born-again Christians. I do not want to call
them churches because they are actually not churches. They are
not even ecclesial communities because ecclesial communities
have at least some presence of the redeeming message of Jesus
and not simply use his name to amass wealth.
Ecclesial communities were born out of the protestant
reformation and lost the tradition handed down from Christ to
the apostles up to the present successor of St. Peter, thus
losing the primacy of originality. It is not that they do not
have the message of salvation but simply do not have the
fullness of it.
This is why they are called Protestants because their origin is
a protest against the authority of the Roman Pontiff, the
successor to the chair of St. Peter. This distinguishes them
from the Orthodox who because they can trace their origin to one
of the apostles, enjoy the primacy of originality but only that
they do not believe in the authority of the Roman pontiff over
them.
Like the Roman Catholic Church, which enjoys the primacy of
originality in its fullness, they are called churches. The self-
proclaimed born-again Christians are neither ecclesial
communities nor churches. They are simply self-proclaimed
born-again Christians without any tradition to link themselves
to. This is why they are not members of the Joint Christian
Council.
Therefore it is wrong to regard them as part of the churches and
whatever they do should be regarded as done by self-proclaimed
born-again Christians and not born-again churches. What is done
in these born-again groups should not be extended to churches
because they are not churches.
John Henry Cardinal Newman, a 19th century Anglican convert to
Roman Catholicism, said: "To be deep in history is to cease to
be protestant."
History showed him that to remain outside a church that enjoys
the primacy of originality rendered him uncomfortable and so he
came back to the church, leaving an ecclesial community, the
Anglican that lacked this originality.
However, this should not be understood that these ecclesial
communities do not have anything to offer by way of Christian
evangelisation. They lost the fullness of their true apostolate
when they lost the origin from which authenticity of apostleship
comes. The born-again are self-proclaimed without any authority
to authenticate their existence.
The Jesus they preach is created in their own image and does
what they want him to do.
He is a problem solving Jesus, a miracle worker, giving quick
solutions to problems! This is why our problem-filled Ugandans
are easily attracted to this Jesus and many times are taken
advantage of by these self-proclaimed pastors who use his name
to amass immense wealth as we read in the press these days.
Slogans such as "Jesus is the answer or When everything else
fails, try on Jesus" are used to attract our problem-filled
Ugandans to join their huge gatherings. However, the Jesus who
preached in the Church and other ecclesial communities is the
one who is Lord; to whom all must submit and let him do as he
wills, not as we will. Obviously, this Jesus cannot be
attractive to our problem- filled Ugandans who seek quick
solutions to their problems and are therefore looking for
miracles.
Since these born again groups are neither churches nor ecclesial
communities but groups of individuals using Jesus to acquire
wealth, they should not benefit from tax exemption -- which is
extended to churches; it should exclude them. They are neither
churches nor ecclesial communities.
larrykanyike@hotmail.com
==================================================================
http://www.monitor.co.ug/letters/index.php
Letters to the Editor | July 23, 2007
Yes, the
Pentecostals are being targeted
IN the Daily Monitor of July
20, Mr Aaron Kavuma complained that “Pentecostals are being
targeted”. I agree with him, that evils exist in other religions
as well. But how did Aaron come to learn of them? Because they
have been widely covered and castigated in the media, the same
way Pentecostal evils are being treated.
As long as the evils publicised are not lies, then we should
just suggest remedial action instead of employing one wrong to
justify another. By the way, has one stopped to ask what
happened to the Bishops that Aaron is quoting as condoning
homosexuality?
Some have been defrocked and others denounced. Even communion
with their churches has been cut off. What has the Pentecostal
movement done in response? Secondly, Aaron is condemning what he
calls “traditional churches” for having disabled their followers
to achieve any thing.
What does one mean by achievement? Is it cars, buildings, fat
accounts or worship bands? We need to get a clarification on
this issue because I beleive it is at the heart of the whole
disturbing business?
In my opinion, the ultimate goal (achievement) of a Christian is
not secular-material things but rather to lead one’s soul into
Salvation. (Mathew 6:33)
George Wasswa Ssempebwa
St. Luke Nabweru.
gwasswa36@yahoo.com
====================================================================
http://www.monitor.co.ug/letters/index.php
Letters to the Editor | July 23, 2007
Shouldn’t pastors borrow a leaf from the late Pope?
I have noticed a worrying trend
in the media lately. Whenever you read the word pastor, there is
bound to be some form of controversy. Is there some clandestine
mission to tarnish the reputations of these men of God or are we
now actually “seeing them by their works”?
On the other hand, how come their cousins, the Catholic and
Anglican priests are always held in high esteem?
The Bible clearly states that Jesus Christ led a very modest
lifestyle. So, why would a pastor drive a car with private
plates which is in itself a materialistic act?
Why is it that the prosperity gospel is now at the fore of
Pentecostal teachings as opposed to establishment of personal
relationships with Christ?
Other churches, especially the Catholic Church, have been
demonised by these pastors, yet by all standards the Catholic
Church seems to be more exemplary in Christian terms than this
Pentecostal movement as seen in the lifestyle of their leaders
and Godly works of the Catholics like the numerous charities,
hospitals and schools run by the church.
In 2005, many people were shocked to find that the late Pope
John Paul II (who Pentecostals frequently called the
anti-Christ) had no personal wealth save for a Bible and a few
personal notes. Shouldn’t our pastors borrow a leaf from the
late Pope?
James Taylor Mwesigwa,
Kampala.
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==============================================================
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/21/576863
How are born-again pastors unique?
Thursday, 19th July, 2007
E-mail article E-mail article Print article Print article
EDITOR—I write to respond to Peter Ezekiel’s letter entitled:
“Born-again have a right to start their churches” published on
July 14 and to Pastor Godfrey Lule’s remarks in The Sunday
Vision of July 15. According to Ugandan Church history, kulokoka
(getting saved) started in the Anglican Church in the 1930s.
The Anglican Balokole did and have not started ‘their Churches’.
What substance is in Ezekiel’s contention that “the born-again
are unique, distinct and different and they are called and
commissioned by Jehovah...”?
Maybe they are unique as revealed by the current press in acts
of sodomy, fraud and use of ‘miracle machines’. Their rebellious
spirit of disregarding established church authority is
unchristian.
Jesus Christ left His ministry in the hands of 11 Disciples whom
He had rigorously equipped and trained in His ‘mobile seminary’.
The Church has been sustained and kept alive down the centuries
by church leaders who have been called, recruited, trained and
commissioned by established Church Leadership (Apostolic
Succession). Even Protestantism was started by Martin Luther, an
ordained priest.
The ‘constitutional freedom of worship’ is not synonymous with
‘starting new Churches’. The Government should hike fees and
other requirements for registering “New Churches” so that
Ezekiel, Pastor Lule and other wayward ‘born-again’ pastors who
are exploiting the ignorant masses and promoting wrong teachings
can be controlled.
Reuben B. Kisembo
Fort Portal
================================================================
http://www.monitor.co.ug/letters/index.php
Pentecostals are being targeted
IT is hurting to see that when something happens in Pentecostal
churches many religions rise up and begin to condemn them. But I
always ask myself which religion has the moral authority to
condemn Pentecostal churches?
We have heard of Reverend Fathers sleeping with nuns, Muslim
fanatics committing acts of terrorism in the name of religious
purism and church deacons having extra-marital affairs, Bishops
embezzling money and condoning homosexuality.
Many people were in those so-called traditional religions, but
they achieved nothing, that is why they joined the Pentecostal
churches. The Pentecostal church has done a lot despite some
setbacks like this of false pastors. False teachers are all over
the place.
It is bad to look at dirt in someone’s eyes before washing your
own.
Aaron Kavuma,
kavumaa@yahoo.com
Media, check the other churches too
COLUMNIST Moses Sserwanga’s article about accessories to crime
in church nailed it! Tell them how it is, Brother! These guys
have had a free ride for far too long and it is about time
something is done. In the fight against poverty these “churches”
are surely not helping - I do not even want to mention how
disgusted I am about the Sodomy thing.
You also might want to do some investigative reporting on the
Catholic Church - you never know what you might uncover - In the
U.S., Catholic Priests have sexually abused so many young boys.
I am not sure that phenomenon is a preserve of the US-based
Catholics.
Kenneth Ddamba Kanyike,
KENNETH.DDAMBA@oracle.com
===========================================================
http://www.ugandaobserver.com/new/oped/oped200707195.php
July 19, 2007
Turning God into a slot gadget!
Martyn Drakard
The other day a Pajero Land-cruiser overtook me. It had a
personalised number-plate that I couldn’t but notice. It read
PSALM 8. Probably a pastor, I thought; both because of the
number-plate, and the luxury of the vehicle.
These days pastors are in the news: lavish weddings, palatial
mansions, state of the art churches and equipment, bounteous
tithes, gadgets that transmit the spirit via an electric shock,
and worse. A few crooked ones are spoiling the names of them
all.
Psalm 8 is one of my favourites, and I couldn’t help a wry
smile. It reads: “What is man that thou art mindful of
him…..Thou hast made him a little less than God, and dost crown
him with glory and honour……Thou hast put all things under his
feet.” Is this what some pastors really believe about
themselves?
Judging by the newspapers, Kampala seems to have acquired
born-again fever in the last year or two. How has this come
about, and so suddenly? The Pentecostal or ‘born-again’ churches
developed in the USA among people of modest means. These people
wanted a ‘religion of the heart” which satisfied not only their
religious certainties, but also their emotional, psychological
and physical needs.
Enthusiastic singing, spontaneous personal testimonies, prayer
in unison and extemporaneous sermons on simple, biblical themes
by lay preachers became the style, and this style has caught on
and spread world-wide, including Latin America, Britain, and
especially the whole of non-Islamic Africa.
Several factors combine to explain their magnetic attraction.
The style of worship is emotionally appealing to many, and the
beliefs taught and spiritual demands are easy to accept. Also,
and most of all for many, the material rewards and the promises
made.
If you want to get a visa to the UK, find the ideal partner for
life, or recover from a serious illness, you only have to ‘sow’,
to give as much money as you can to the pastor – and he will do
the rest. Young people say they transfer from the mainstream
churches because the services are lively, simple and they can
understand what is going on.
Older people because they are fed up living from hand to mouth
and worrying about tomorrow, about basic needs and school fees,
since the pastors, they believe, will answer their prayers. But
are they not reducing religion to a slot machine? You pay and….
Lo and behold…you get what you want. Isn’t this abusing
religion, and adapting it to our own needs, even leaving God out
of the picture?
I always thought religion was about worshipping God and doing
His will; and only part of worship, not the whole of it, is to
ask Him for things, because being almighty he will give them to
us, if they are for our good.
Born-again churches here tend to be showy and loud. In Kenya the
picture is quite different. With few exceptions they are found
among the poorest of the population, in the villages and the
urban slums: made of poles with mabati (iron sheets) roof and
walls. They may be loud, though the neighbours are likely to
protest.
They are only showy because of their extravagant names. When I
told some fellow Kenyans what is going on here, they could not
believe it. Kenyans are too attached to their hard-earned cash
to part with it so easily.
Also, Kenyans tend to be more skeptical and suspicious of anyone
promising to give you something for so little. Even the poor and
illiterate are not so gullible as that. Kenyans are not so ready
to air their emotions so openly either, and in city and the
countryside this type of worship attracts housewives, but not
their husbands.
Is it a fair charge to say that the “born-again” churches are
the only ones at the service of the poor, so this is why the
poor flock to them? First, it is not only the poor who go, but
the rich who have perhaps set themselves high material targets
which they want met promptly.
And the poor?
Do they benefit materially from these pastors and their prayers?
According to my understanding of history, as well as the way
things are now, it is the mainstream churches that have always
genuinely assisted the poor.
The Benedictine friars cleared the country roads and city
streets of beggars and the sick in medieval Europe with their
works of charity, and were instrumental in the task of
civilizing and evangelising the continent. Schools, hospitals,
hospices for travellers and pilgrims –even the famous European
universities- were Church foundations. In those centuries the
poor went to school: Pope Gregory VII, one of the greatest
medieval figures, was the son of a goat-herd.
Pope Urban VI the son of a cobbler. Maurice de Sully, who built
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, was the son of a beggar. The
mainstream churches have also through their schools educated
generations of Ugandans and Kenyans for public life and for
professional success; and, through their hospitals and
dispensaries, cured countless millions in Africa.
Crowds of the sick flock there, like a scene from the Gospels,
because they expect proper treatment at an affordable price, as
well as a kindly word. Once the born-again churches prove with
deeds what they say with words, deeds with social, cultural and
spiritual impact, then they will earn the credibility of
everyone.
And if the mainstream churches fear for the loss of their
faithful and want to win them back, perhaps they have to learn
how to make the message more relevant to their needs.
mdrakard@bugala.org
=================================================
uly 19, 2007
Reeling from 'holy spirit' machine
Dismas Nkunda
There are two stories that have made it a habit to face us every
morning. The Balalo and electric pastors! In both cases I have
very fundamental fear of even trying to untangle what has made
these two unlikely bedfellows catch our imagination.
They are far apart both in their activities, but they have one
common thing about them. The Balalo, wherever they have come
from- are good cattle keepers. They seem to have come to
conquer.
They however did not know what den they had entered. They met
the Bagungu who live by the shores of Lake Albert. The Bagungu
too are a rare breed of Ugandans. They are held in high esteem
for their art of harvesting and eating fish.
Such are the stories that a mature man from this tribe can put a
whole fish in one side of the mouth and bones will roll from the
other side of the mouth. More like a machine processing
sardines. They are also said to have such high powers that can
throw any intruder into a fit, if you disturb their peace.
Enter the Balalo. Their livelihoods largely depend on products
of cattle. They drink milk, eat eshabwe and sometimes slaughter
one bull for meat. They abhor eating fish. They consider that
eating fish can harm the amount of milk they harvest from their
cows.
They live a sedentary life. They follow their cattle, which also
follows every other part that has green grass that the cows can
eat. This makes them almost similar to the Bagungu who can hover
over the rivers and lakes and can spot a fish and pluck it out
from the water more like the fish hunting birds.
So when fish and cattle clash, you certainly will expect some
sparks. This comes about because both fish and cattle are not
good bedfellows. The Balalo despise the Bagungu and the reverse
is also true. But I guess I should bring in the political
equation of the fish and cattle.
We now know that owning land in Bunyoro these days is not
allowed. Bunyoro is now the treasure of Uganda. Oil, natural gas
and brave men, etc.
Ever wondered why the legendary Omukama Kabalega was willing to
die than allow the British take over his kingdom. He knew what
lay under the soils of Bunyoro. Hearsay has it that the only
other tribe that had something akin to a land title on the
Bunyoro land are their cousins the Luos.
These ones can come to Bunyoro as and when they want. Remember
even uncle Jose Kony, had the temerity to ask that the Omukama
to be part of the peace talks between the Lord’s Resistance Army
(LRA) and the government.
So when a group that hitherto was not known to live in Bunyoro
suddenly appears with many heads of cattle, some of them armed
with real guns and not Kiboko, then you would not need to go too
far as to understand what is happening.
And you know even the Balalos have in the past communed with
God, through a number of priestesses who have used soil to cure
the sick.
When two previously unrelated incidents with different messages
come to the fore, we expect what we are reaping.
Yes, that spark that has now become a preserve of our pastors.
Imagine this. You are devoted believer. You go to church
everyday. You pay your fees to these good pastors. They assure
you that the more you give to God, the better your chances of
getting more. You are told that you must give 10% of all that
you have.
Some churches have become so strategic and clever that you want
to believe their ingenuity is damn good. One church has an ATM
within its compound. So if the time for passing around the
basket is nay, you have no excuse of not giving.
If you carried no cash, go to the ATM and withdraw money. Now as
though to outdo each other, these supposed God fearing people
not only import machines to shock the hell out of we the
believers, but also swear that the electrical shocker is a toy
for children to play with. The best pastor might be that one
that gives you a good doze of electrical shock.
This one has super power. This one will for sure ask for more
offertories. I already know that we are merchandise out for
buying and selling, but this new trick has taken us a step
further to the point of dehumanising us.
Apparently this electric touch device can be bought online for
only Shs 320,000. So one wonders how many of these are already
in use in the country.
I want to say this is good investment. Selectively used on some
of these high riding politicians, or better still on these
stinking rich Ugandans, you can be sure that for a lone, poor
pastor, the heavens will have opened up. Yes, manna from heaven
for the sake of fake pastors.
Is the crime of being idle and disorderly still on our law
books?
The author is a human rights expert and specialist on refugee
issues
nkundad13@yahoo.co.uk
=========================================================
http://www.monitor.co.ug/letters/index.php
Letters to the Editor | July 19, 2007
Abandon the pastors
THE media is awash with bad news about pastors and born-again
Christian churches. Luckily though, nothing similar is mentioned
about our traditional churches (Catholics and Protestants).
The events suggest that these pastors are businessmen who should
be treated as thus. Return to the traditional churches. These
robbers hould be shunned until they prove they are good
messengers of the word of God.
===========================================================
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/21/576578
Pastor Sserwada should help the Police
Wednesday, 18th July, 2007
E-mail article E-mail article Print article Print article
EDITOR—As a born-again Christian myself, I find Pastor Joseph
Sserwadda’s threats to the police absurd. Rather than try to
intimidate the police, as a prominent pastor, Sserwada is
expected to warn false prophets and fraudulent pastors to turn
away from their wicked ways and return to God (Ezekiel 3:18-19).
If they don’t listen to him, Sserwada and other genuine pastors
should furnish the police with any information they have to
expose these deceitful people in order to protect the
unsuspecting flock. And to the flock, we have to read the word
of God and keep watch because what is happening is reminiscent
of what our Lord Jesus Christ himself said of the end times.
Many more bizzare acts by these false men are bound to happen
and those who are ignorant of His Word will continually be
manipulated and exploited if not perish with them. I request the
National Fellowship of Born Again Churches to help expose vices
in the Body of Christ otherwise the government might have to
step in.
Sarah L. Wamakette
Mbarara
=============================================================
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/21/576574
Who approved the Entebbe Road contract?
Wednesday, 18th July, 2007
E-mail article E-mail article Print article Print article
Minister John Nasasira
Minister John Nasasira
EDITOR—I am deeply disgusted and concerned about the appalling
state of the so-called upgrade/repairs of Entebbe road, in
particular the section from Kisubi to Entebbe Airport. In
addition, there is an increasing likelihood of accidents and
deaths arising from poor road constructions signs, extremely
narrow road lanes with uncovered deep embankments on each side.
I would like the Ministry of Works or whoever approved the
tender to answer the following questions: who is this mysterious
road company that has been engaged on this contract, as they do
not publicise their company? Why was 15km of road being
demarcated (except for placing some stones) and left for several
weeks without any work done causing major disruption?
Having done such a terrible job when is this company going to be
sacked, if this has not been done already? How much money have
they consumed? What measures will be taken against this company
in terms of refunding monies, barring them from any future works
contracts and being sued for negligence?
Once again, I predict we will have a CHOGM scandal inquiry which
will investigate funds that were meant to improve Uganda’s roads
(and other sectors) that have been redirected towards a few ‘big
people’ and straight into their ‘fat’ bank accounts! When will
the Government get really serious about corruption?
The contractors on the Entebbe Road were contracted for short
term gains at the expense of the taxpayer and people’s lives! It
is difficult to accept that when Uganda receives sufficient
funds to develop and improve its infrastructure, it shall fail
to deliver but, can it really afford to miss this opportunity
when resources are so scarce?
We need to promote service and commitment to the Ugandan people
and root out this infectious greed and selfishness. I would like
to say to those responsible, God will not be mocked, He is
always watching, He hates injustice and corruption, you may
cheat people some of the time but not all of the time and, “what
you reap you will eventually sow.”
Finally, I believe we need to build a new prison wing at Luzira
for dubious contractors who continue to defraud tax payers and
donor funds, and then enlist them with continuous supervision to
repair the roads for free! Politicians and all officials
concerned let us get serious and ensure that Entebbe Road is
upgraded and repaired properly.
John Thomas Entebbe
======================================================
http://www.bukeddekussande.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=3&newsCategoryId=169&newsId=577209
Kakande
alumbye Muwanguzi ku by’emmotoka
Bya Fracis Kagolo
NABBI Samuel Kakande olukomyewo okuva e Dubai gy’amaze wiiki
bbiri atuukidde mu kusaba okw’amaanyi era eno gy’asinzidde
n’alumba paasita Muwanguzi n’amulangira okweraga n’emmootoka
ey’ebbeeyi nti abagoberezi si gye baagala.
Mu kusaba kw’oku Lwokuna ku kkanisa ye eya Synagogue e Mulago,
Kakande yagambye nti, “emmotoka tezikyalina gwe zikanga, abantu
baalaba dda kati twagala basumba bayamba bagoberezi baabwe
kukulaakulana. Omusumba bwe yeegaggawaza yekka abeera awabye.
Kyetaaga bw’asimba Benzi nga n’abagoberezi be bazisimba. N’abo
abagamba nti nkozesa buuma bw’amasannyalaze tebamanyi maanyi ga
Yesu gwe mpeereza. Nze ndi nabbi wa Katonda, era olulimi mmanyi
lwa bunnabbi, Bamitala bamanyi lwa buuma.” bwe yagasseeko.
Yasabidde abagoberezi bangi ne bagwa nga muno mwabaddemu
abanoonya emirimu, n’abalwadde.
Published on: Saturday, 21st July, 2007
==================================================================
http://www.bukeddekussande.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=3&newsCategoryId=167&newsId=577205
Gavt. egudde mu lukwe lw’abasumba mwe bayita okunyaga abantu
Bya Richard Kayiira
ABASUMBA b’Abalokole bayiiyizza obukodyo obupya mwe batandise
okubbira abagoberezi baabwe omuli n’okukozesa leediyo za FM kwe
bazannyira amaloboozi gaabwe agaakwatibwa edda kyokka nga
beefudde nti bali mu situdiyo mu kaseera ako.
Bapanga abantu baabwe ne bakuba amasimu nga bawa obujulizi
obw’obulimba okuwuddiisa abantu nti bakola ebyamagero olwo
Omusumba n’alyoka agamba nti, “Abatafunye mukisa kuyitamu, mujje
ku kkanisa.”
Kino kiwalirizza gavumenti okuvaayo n’erabula nti egenda kukwata
abasumba bano abatakyalina njawulo na basawo b’ekinnansi
abalimbalimba abalwadde basobole okubanyaga. Minisita akwasisa
empisa James Nsaba Buturo yategeezezza nti, “Tumaze okutegeera
olukwe luno oluwubisa abantu era tugenda kubayimukiramu.
Abasumba ab’ekika kino tebagenda kukkirizibwa kusigala nga babba
abantu baffe.”
Omuwandiisi w’akakiiko akafuga ebyamawulire , Paul Mukasa
yategeezezza nti bagenda kukolagana n’akakiiko akavunaanyizibwa
ku bifulumizibwa ku mpewo okunoonyereza ku nsonga eno era bwe
banaafuna obujulizi obw’enkukunala, bajja kukangavvula bonna
abakyenyigiddemu.
Mu bukodyo obulala mwe muli ak’ennamba z’amasimu ezibatuukako
obutereevu kyokka okugifuna omugoberezi amala kusasula wakati wa
100,000/= okutuuka ku kakadde kamu.
Omusumba ow’amaanyi ku luguudo lw’e Ntebe alina amasimu 2
abagoberezi kwe bamufunira. Omu ku bayambi be yategeezezza
Bukedde nti emu ya Bammemba abasooka okugula kkaadi eya shs.
100,000/= olwo n’abawa ennamba eno. Abatali bammemba basasula
200,000/= nga kwe batadde n’okukuutira obutagiwa muntu mulala
yenna.
Abamu bataddewo obusenge obw’enjawulo mu maka gaabwe mwe
balabira abagoberezi ng’okukayingiramu osasula ensimbi eziva ku
500,000/= n’okusingawo nga kisinziira ku nfuna yo n’ekizibu
ky’oyagala okukukolerako.
Abagoberezi batandise okubakolamu ebibiina okuli ekya ‘Bammemba’
n’ekirala ekya ba ‘Millionaires’ Club’ (ekya bannaggagga). Mu
kkanisa ya Nabbi William Muwanguzi eya Holly Fire Ministries
okukuwa kkadi y’obwammemba omala kusasula 100,000/= .
Mu kkanisa endala e Nakulabye, okuyingira mu kibiina kya
bannaggagga osasula ensimbi eziva ku kakadde kamu buli mwaka,
kw’ogatta n’okusiga ensimbi ezitakka wansi wa 100,000/= buli
Ssande.
Abantu abali mu bibiina bino babeera n’enkizo y’okuweebwa
omukisa ogusooka mu kusabirwa era omusumba buli mwezi
abategekera ekijjulo ‘eky’omukisa’ kyokka ng’okukyetabako osooka
kusasula 150,000/=.
Published on: Saturday, 21st July, 2007
==================================================================
http://www.bukeddekussande.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=3&newsCategoryId=167&newsId=577204
Omusumba Mayambala azirikidde mu lutalo
Abakungubazi nga basitudde omusumba Mayambala eyazirikidde mu
kuziika mukazi we Nantongo ku Lwokutaano.
Bya Robert Mutebi
OMUSUMBA Evans Mayambala azirise oluvannyuma lw’akanyoolagano
n’abooluganda lw’abadde mukyala we, omugenzi Margaret Nantongo
nga bakaayanira ebyobugagga.
Bino biddiridde abooluganda lwa Nantongo naddala nnyina
okulumiriza nga Mayambala bw’abadde aleetera muwala we eddogo
nti lye lyavuddeko n’okufa kwe. “Muwala wange yajja ewange
n’ang’amba nti omusajja amulemesezza obulamu, amutulugunya
ekisusse, amanyi okuleeta ebifaananyi by’emirambo gye basibye
akaba n’abissa ku buliri. Yang’amba nti alumbibwa ebirooto nga
bba amukolako obulabe era nti amanyi okumugamba nti oli mulambo
ogutambula,” Nakalema bwe yategeezezza.
Mayambala nga ye Musumba w’ekkanisa ya Let there be Healing e
Kiwaatule ne Mukono yazirise bwe yabadde agenda ku ntaana ya
mukyala we e Jinjakalooli gye baaziise, olwo abantu ne basattira
okutuusa lwe baamuddusizza ku kalwaliro ka Byansi clinic e
Kawempe gye yafunidde obujjanjabi.
Ku mukolo gw’okuziika Mayambala okusooka yalabise nga mugumu era
yatudde wakati w’Omutume Alex Mitala n’Omusumba Joseph Sserwadda
ng’akuumibwa poliisi n’ekitongole ekikuumi ekya Saracen.
Mu kwogera kwe mu kuziika, Omusumba Sserwadda yagambye nti, “Mu
bya Yesu temubeera ddogo, noolwekyo musaana okutegeeragana
kubanga omwana bw’afumbirwa abeera mu mikono gya musajja.
Omusumba Mayambala asaana yeebazibwe olw’ebyo byonna by’akoledde
Nantongo ng’akyali mulamu,” Sserwadda bwe yagambye.
Wabula, waabaddewo akacankalano oluvannyuma lw’okuziika ab’ekika
kya Mayambala bwe baalagidde mwannyina w’omugenzi abadde
amulabirira abawe ebisumuluzo by’ennyumba gye yali apangisa
oluvannyuma lw’okunoba ewa Mayambala.
Baamuggyeeko essimu y’omugenzi ku kifuba n’ebisumuluzo bya
mmotoka olwo ne babalagira okuleeta ekyapa okuli ennyumba
y’amaka ga Bamayambala ey’e Ntinda.
Abooluganda lw’omufu abaabadde bagenze okukungubaga e Ntinda
baakiguddeko bwe baagaaniddwa okuyingira ne babaggalira wabweru
nga bagamba nti ebyabwe byabadde biwedde.
“Tulina okulwanirira ebintu bya mwannyinaffe kubanga ye yabikola
tekuli kya musajja. Newankubadde batugobye awaka tetujja
kukakkana,”Harriet Nambuuka muganda w’omugenzi bwe yategeezezza.
Baakonkomalidde ku luguudo okutuusa lwe bennyudde ne bagenda e
Kyengera ewa nnyina w’omugenzi, gye baakumidde olumbe.
Published on: Saturday, 21st July, 2007
============================================================
http://www.bukedde.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=2&newsCategoryId=60&newsId=576894
Gwe baakutte n’ekyuma e Ntebe bamugobye mu Uganda
Korjo
Bya Bridget Namitala
OMUSUMBA w’Abalokole eyakwatiddwa n’akuuma k’amasannyalaze
akagambibwa okukuba endiga ze ebigwo nga bagayita amaanyi ga
Yesu ebintu byongedde okumwonoonekera. Poliisi eragidde azzibwe
ewaabwe mu Ghana.
Ensonda mu poliisi ziteegezezza nti beetegerezza obujulizi bwe
balina ku musumba Obiri Yeboah Korjo ne bakizuula nga kijja
kubakaluubirira okumuzza ewaabwe ku misango gy’akuuma kano
gyokka kwe kukolagana ne poliisi y’ensi yonna eya Interpol ne
bagattako emirala egigambibwa nti yaleka agizzizza mu Ghana nga
tannajja wano.
Poliisi egamba nti Obiri nga tannajja mu Uganda yazza emisango
egy’enjawulo omuli n’okubba obutitimbe bwa ssente ku byuma bya
bbanka ebya ATM era bwe yadduka ekiwejjowejjo ng’ali mu Uganda.
Yatandika ekkanisa eya ‘We are One Ministries’ ku luguudo lwa
Sir Apollo Kaggwa mu Kampala.
Wabula ye Nabbi Obiri yewoozezzako nti ekyuma kino yakireetedde
baana be kuzannyisa ku mazaalibwa gaabwe wabula si kukubisa
ndiga ze masannyalaze.
Published on: Thursday, 19th July, 2007
===================================================================
http://www.bukedde.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=2&newsCategoryId=60&newsId=576893
Omuwala omulala alumiriza musumba Iga okumukaka omukwano
Ndi lubuto: Brenda alumiriza Iga.
Bya Richard Kayiira ne Joshua Mubulire
OMUWALA omulala avuddeyo n’alumiriza omusumba Augustine Iga ow’e
Kawaala nti bwe yagendayo okumusabira, Iga yamwekyusiza
n’amukwana n’amufunyisa olubuto nga kati lwa myezi munaana.
Brenda Nalubega 22, ow’e Kiwatule agamba nti yasooka kuyimba
nnyimba kyokka n’abulwa ssente ezizissa ku lutambi.
Mu kiseera ekyo yalina omulenzi eyali amulya obwongo kyokka
ng’omulenzi abadala omuwala.
Kwe kufuna abamuzigirira Iga nti bw’anaagendayo n’amusabira ajja
kufuna ssente ez’okussa ennyimba ku lutambi n’omulenzi akkirize
okumuwasa.
Mu September omwaka oguwedde, Nalubega yagenda ewa Iga. Omusumba
yansabira n’andagira okusiiba ennaku nnya.
Ku lunaku Olwokuna ku ssaawa 5 ez’ekiro, Iga yamukubira essimu
n’amutegeeza bwe yali afunye okwolesebwa nga Mukama amulagira
okusabira Nalubega ku ssaawa ezo zennyini.
“Iga yandagira okumusisinkana e Kamwokya ku siteegi.
Nnalinnyirawo bodaboda okutuuka e Kamwokya era nnasanga Iga
anninze. Nnatuula mu mmotoka kyokka mu kifo ky’okugenda e
Kawaala twasibira Kawempe mu loogi.
“Saafunamu kutya kwonna okuyingira loogi kubanga Iga nnali
mwesize ng’omusumba ate nga mwannyinaze kubanga tweddira gumu (Ngabi).
Nga tuli mu loogi, Iga yansabira n’ekyaddirira kunkaka mukwano.
Yang’umya nti agenda kumpasa era eby’omulenzi wange mbiveeko”,
bwe yannyonnyodde.
Agattako: Iga yandekayo mu loogi ne ssente 20,000/- ez’entambula.
Okuva olwo twagenda mu maaso n’omukwano era mu November ne nfuna
olubuto. Iga kino teyakyagala kwe kumpa 40,000/- n’oluvannyuma
70,000/- zonna awamu 110,000/- nzigyemu olubuto. Kino nnakigaana
era wano we waatandikira obutakkaanya.
Bino biddiridde omujaasi Lt. George Mwanje okutwala Iga ku
poliisi e Kawempe ng’agamba nti yamukwata ne mukazi we Justine
Mwanje.
Bukedde bwe yafulumizza amawulire gano, Iga yasoose kugawakanya
era ku Lwokusatu yatabadde leediyo okuli Akaboozi ku Bbiri
n’akolagana ne Basajjamivule Habbey Ssewakiryanga okulaga nti
Bukedde yawandiise bikyamu.
Oluvannyuma baagenze ku Radio Simba ng’ali n’eyali mukazi we
Juliet Nakalule ne bakolokota Bukedde. Baagambye nti baayawukana
mu mirembe olwo Nakalule n’akola ekkanisa eyiye e Kasubi. Kyokka
beewaze okwogera ekyabaawukanya.
Kyokka Bukedde yafunye bwino okuli sitatimenti Iga yennyini gye
yakola ku poliisi e Kawempe ng’akkiriza bwe baamutwalayo ng’ali
mu pajama.
Bino bwe byafulumye abawala n’abantu abalala ne batandika okujja
mu Bukedde ne boogera ebizibu bya bafunye ne Iga.
Nalubega agamba nti yalaba Iga amwesamba kwe kutwala ensonga ze
mu kibiina ekigatta abasumba ekya West Kampala Pastors
Fellowship.
Bano baamuggyako obujulizi oluvannyuma ne bayita Iga n’akkiriza
okuddamu okuyamba omuwala.
Bwe baali baawukana, Iga n’awa omuwala essimu y’omu ngalo
kw’anaamukubiranga n’amugattirako 100,000/-.
Kyokka okuva olwo Iga abadde tayagala kulaba Nalubega wadde
okumuwa obuyambi. Nalubega ajjanjabirwa ku kalwaliro ka KCC e
Kawempe era ebbaluwa kw’anywera eddagala ziriko amannya ga Iga
nti ye nnannyini lubuto.
Ebbaluwa eno Bukedde yagifunyeeko.
Kyokka Iga yategeezezza Bukedde eggulo nti: kituufu omuwala oyo
mmuwa obuyambi naye sibumuwa nga bba wabula muyamba buyambi.
Okutandika okumuwa obuyambi, Iga agamba nti omuwala yamuweereza
ebbaluwa nga yeetonda olw’okumwonoonera erinnya. Waliwo abasumba
abaali bamukozesa okukissa ku Iga nti ye yamufunyisa olubuto.
“Omuwala ono bwe yanneetondera, nange kwe kusalawo okumuwa
obuyambi. Kyokka kati waliwo abasumba abazzeemu okufukuutirira
Nalubega annumirize bwe nnamufunyisa olubuto.
Ebyo byonna bikolebwa kunnwanyisa kubanga amakanisa gaabwe
abantu bagadduseemu baggwera wange,” bwe yannyonnyodde.
Published on: Thursday, 19th July, 2007
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Omukazi gwe baakutte n’omusumba Iga ow’e Kawaala ayogedde
Nakalule eyayawukanye ne Iga n’akola ekkanisa eyo mu kifaananyi.
Mu katono ye Omusumba Augustine Iga.
Bya Rogers Muyanja ne Sarah Zawedde
OMUKAZI omufumbo gwe baakutte n’omusumba Augustine Iga ow’e
Kawaala akoze sitatimenti ku poliisi n’ategeeza nti baludde nga
baagalana.
“Bwe nnagenda ewa Iga okunsabira nga January 31, 2007 yantegeeza
nti ebizibu byange byetaaga okusabirwa okwenjawulo. Yajja ewange
ekiro nga February 7, 2007 n’antegeeza bwe yali nkimye antwale
ansabire. Twasibira mu kifo ekyekusifu kye nnategeera
oluvannyuma nti loogi. Bwe yamala okunsabira n’ankaka omukwano.
“Ekyaddirira kwagalana okutuusa baze lwe yabimanya. Baze mujaasi
Lt. George Mwanje era bwe yamanya kwe kusalawo okukyawa Iga”,
Justine Mwanje bwe yategeezezza mu sitatimenti ku poliisi e
Kawempe.
Agattako: Kyokka Iga yannemerako. Nga April 20,2007 yankubidde
essimu nti ayagala kujja alye ku kibumba tukolemu n’omukwano
ogw’amangu. Iga yayingiddewo ku ssaawa 5 ez’ekiro n’asimba
emmotoka ye mu luggya n’ayitawo n’asibira mu kisenge. Iga
yeeyambudde n’asigala bukunya ku buliri. Wano baze we yatuukidde
n’asanga Iga ng’ali bukunya.
Justine agamba nti Iga yafukamidde ne yeegayirira Mwanje:
Musajja munnange ffenna tuli Bannayuganda tuteese biggwe. Kyokka
Mwanje n’agaana n’asalawo kutwala Iga ku poliisi.
Eggulo Bukedde yafulumizza amawulire nti Iga yayawukanye ne
mukazi we Juliet Nakalule oluvannyuma lwa Iga okukwatibwa ne
muk’omusajja e Kazo. Kyokka Iga yayise Nakalule ne bagenda ku
leediyo ya ‘Akaboozi ku Bbiri’ ne bakozesa omukozi waayo
Basajjamivule Habbey Ssewakiryanga okulaga Bukedde nti yabadde
alimba.
Kyokka Iga yennyini naye yakola sitatimenti ku poliisi
ng’akkiriza nti yakwatibwa ng’ali ne Justine era n’atwalibwa ku
poliisi ng’ali bwereere.
Wabula mu sitatimenti ye agamba nti Justine ye yamukubira essimu
anone ttivi ye Justine gye yali atonedde ekkanisa ya Iga. Bwe
yali ewa Justine, abasajja bajja ne bamusongamu emmundu ne
bamulagira okweyambulamu engoye.
“Tebaakoma ku kunnyambula wabula banzibako ssente obukadde 6.
Oluvannyuma bantwala ku poliisi e Kawempe nga bagamba nti baali
bankutte ne mukazi waabwe”, Iga bw’annyonnyola mu sitatimenti
ye.
Omusango oguvunaanibwa Iga gulina fayiro e Kawempe eri
CRB1000/07. Fayiro eri mu kkooti e Nabweru ku fayiro
NAB-CO-0630/07 eriko omutwe ‘Adultery’ ekitegeeza obwenzi.
Mwanje yatutte ku poliisi abajulizi babiri okulumiriza Iga.
Kuliko Farouk Luyima, omuyizi mu Kampala Citizen College ne Tony
Musegwa abeera mu Mugowa Zooni e Bwaise.
Justine ne Mwanje batuuze b’e Kazo mu Central Zooni e Nabweru.
Mwanje naye yakoze sitatimenti ng’agamba nti okukwata Iga ne
Justine yasooka kusiibula mukazi we nti yali agenda safari Mbale
nga yali waakusulayo. Kyokka teyagenda Mbale bwe yadda eka kwe
kusanga Iga ‘nga yawambye dda ekyalo’. Agamba nti yasimba
emmotoka ye emabega w’eya Iga ng’olwo omusumba ne bwe
yandigezezzaako okudduka yali talina w’ayita.
Published on: Wednesday, 18th July, 2007
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