By Aggrey Baba
Court in Mengo on Thursday listened to a startling account from a former church aide at Rubaga Miracle Centre, who revealed that he once contemplated killing celebrated city preacher Pastor Robert Kayanja, after what he described as betrayal.
The accused in the city pastors sodomy case, led in testimony by his lawyer Mr. Tumwesigye, narrated in detail how his journey into Pastor Kayanja’s ministry began in 2016 during the famous 77 Days of Glory prayer services, but later turned into what he called a bitter and traumatizing experience.
Introducing himself, 30-year-old Alex Wakamala said he was a Mugishu from Mbale District who dropped out of school due to problems with his sight. His mother, he told court, encouraged him to seek God’s healing through prayer. He first attended a church in Mutungo before later joining prayer mountain in Kayunga in 2016. It was during this period, he said, that he was persuaded to attend the well-publicised 77 Days of Glory (77 DOGs) at Rubaga Miracle Centre by his mother.
“I told my mother I didn’t want to be associated with Pr. Kayanja or Pr. Kakande (because of what I had always heard about them) but later I changed my mind after my pastor in Kayunga said he had voices telling me to go to the same place. Then I knew the Lord Himself had spoken,” he testified.
Upon joining, Wakamala began as a volunteer usher before later being recruited into the church’s security team. Through this role, he said, he grew closer to senior church leaders and was even introduced to K9 training as part of the ministry’s security operations.
In his testimony, Wakamala recounted his first direct encounter with Pastor Kayanja inside the church office after waiting for long. “I entered the Pastor’s office around midday. He gave me UGX 300,000, but I told him I needed anointing from him. He hugged me tightly and I wondered if I was his begotten son,” Wakamala told the court. From there, he claimed, his interactions with the pastor became more frequent, though not always in ways he expected.
The witness narrated an incident he said occurred after a night service when he was summoned to meet the pastor. “Someone called me and said that pastor was looking for me. When I met him past midnight in his ofdice, he asked me to give him a massage. He was in a boxer. He went to his bathroom and later he came out with a white towel and a small mattress. He lay down and asked for a further massage. At some point, he touched my private parts, but I never got aroused. He asked to have sex with me but I refused and started crying because I got disappointed in the pastor I was holding in high regard,” Wakamala testified.
He told court that the alleged attempt was unsuccessful but said that from that moment, the pastor regarded him with suspicion and resentment. “He never gave me any money that night. He told his associates that I was their enemy,” he said.
Beyond church life, Wakamala said these experiences spilled over into his home and marriage. He explained that on several occasions when he returned home after meeting Kayanja, his wife noticed an unusual fragrance on him. “I would smell the soap I had used to shower in the pastor’s office. My wife always thought I was cheating on her with other women. This made me feel bad because I was betraying her trust, yet I couldn’t open up to her,” Wakamala testified.
The quarrels, he said, grew worse until one day his wife directly overhead a phone call from the pastor. “Pastor called me when I was at home. My wife picked the phone and handed it to me. He told me openly in Luganda, ‘Jangu nze ne Reagan tukukubemu,’ meaning, ‘come, we sodomize you.’ I had put the phone on the loudspeaker and my wife heard everything. She got angry and destroyed some household items, but at least she finally knew the truth,” Wakamala told the court.
It was, however, his testimony about nearly turning a gun on the pastor that sent shockwaves through the courtroom. According to Wakamala, one day he had been deployed to guard Pastor Kayanja during a church service. As part of security protocol, he signed out a gun from the control room before taking up his position near the pulpit.
“I received a call from the pastor himself, telling me to meet him later after the service so that he and another man called Reagan could have intimacy with me. I was very disturbed. At the same time, I had many responsibilities because my wife was pregnant and we were struggling financially. I had hoped the pastor would help me, but instead he was making such demands,” Wakamala testified.
He said that as he watched the pastor preaching, he grew more furious. “Each time he mentioned the name of Jesus and called upon the Holy Spirit, I felt betrayed because I believed he was not living according to the values he was preaching. I got so angry that I thought of shooting him there and then,” he said.
According to him, he even reached for his weapon but stopped when he saw the pastor looking at him suspiciously.
“That is what made me hesitate,” he told the court. Although the thought passed, Wakamala admitted that the anger remained with him for a long time.
Wakamala went on to say that the pastor went on and sodomized him after the service, though Reagan, who had been expected to join, did not turn up. He told court that he lived with this secret for a long time, even as his marriage continued to suffer under suspicion and mistrust.
The atmosphere in the Mengo Magistrate court was tense throughout his testimony, particularly when he described moments where his faith in the pastor had turned into resentment strong enough to consider murder. He broke down several times, especially when recalling how his wife had misunderstood him until she overheard the pastor’s call. His lawyer, Mr. Tumwesigye, guided him patiently through the testimony, ensuring he explained events step by step.
The case is still before court and is expected to hear from more witnesses in the coming sessions, as the Magistrate adjusted it until September 5, 2025. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
