By Mulengera Reporters
Court proceedings in the long-running sodomy case involving senior pastor Robert Kayanja of Rubaga Miracle Centre church took yet another turn on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, when an attempt by the 8th accused person to conclude his defense was abruptly halted following sharp objections from the prosecution.
The session at Mwanga II Magistrate’s Court in Mengo, presided over by Grade One Magistrate Adams Byarugaba, had been scheduled for Reagan Ssentongo (listed as accused number eight) to finalize his defense in a case where nine young men (Ssentongo and his co-accused) Peter Serugo, Moses Tumwine, Khalifah Labeeb, Alex Wakamala, Martins Kagolo, Israel Wasswa, Jamil Mwanda, and Aggrey Kinene, stand accused of falsely alleging that the Lubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral lead pastor sodomized them.
But what began as a normal continuation of defense testimony quickly descended into legal contestation over digital evidence.
Ssentongo had barely resumed narrating his account when he referred to a previous court session in which he told the court that during his stay at Kayanja’s farm in Kiryandongo District, he was allocated a room (which initially was Kayanja’s office at the farm) where he found different guns. He told court on Tuesday that he had taken photos of himself holding some of the guns using his mobile phone and was ready to present them as part of his defense.
“The room I was allocated even had weapons and I can show them to court in the pictures I took with them, using my phone,” 20-year-old Ssentongo said, prompting his lawyers from Ojambo & Ojambo Advocates to request that the photos be displayed.
The defense team instructed the person operating the TV screen used for evidence presentation to step into the dock and begin displaying the images as Ssentongo explained their context.
However, Chief State Attorney Jonathan Muwaganya immediately rose to object, arguing that it would be unlawful and procedurally improper for the accused to simply display photographs allegedly extracted from his own phone without the presence of the forensic expert who retrieved and analyzed the data. He maintained that any digital evidence must first be properly introduced, authenticated, and backed by expert testimony to ascertain its source and integrity.
“You can’t just show photos to court without laying a proper background,” Muwaganya submitted, insisting that the forensic professional who extracted the photos must be present to verify the report and confirm the authenticity of the material.
He further contended that even the act of ordering the gadget operator to display the images was irregular, arguing that the operator takes instructions from court, not from defense counsel. Muwaganya asked Magistrate Byarugaba to immediately halt the display process.
The defense team strongly pushed back, accusing the prosecution of deliberately attempting to block the accused from presenting potentially pinning evidence. Council Ojambo argued that the objection was tactical, suggesting that the prosecution feared the implications of the photos.
They insisted that the court had previously allowed reference to the photos and that preventing their display at this stage would unfairly prejudice their client’s right to a full defense.
What followed was nearly 30 minutes of intense legal argument, with both sides flipping through pages of the Penal Code Act and criminal procedure texts in search of provisions to reinforce their positions. Magistrate Byarugaba, who had earlier indicated openness to the defense’s line of testimony, appeared visibly cautious as he weighed the competing submissions.
In his ruling, Byarugaba adjourned the matter to March 13, 2026, directing that the forensic expert who extracted the photos from Ssentongo’s phone must be present in court on that day to properly introduce and authenticate the evidence before it can be displayed.
Byarugaba also advised the gadget operator to keep time during the next session to avoid further delays, noting that the case has already consumed significant judicial time. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
