By Mulengera Reporters
Influential media personality Tamale Mirundi has defended Ps Aloysius Bugingo saying he is a victim of intrigue by envious city pastors who were unhappy seeing him take their place of favor in the President’s family.
Speaking on a Saturday radio program, Mirundi likened Bugingo’s plight to what he suffered when people ganged up on him immediately after the First Lady Janet Museveni spoke well about him.
“If you say his marriage has been struggling for three years why is it coming out now when he has just prayed for Gen Muhoozi [President’s son] at his birth day? This clearly is proof it’s his fellow pastors who have become envious and are now using Bukedde and New Vision to demonize him. He has no doubt taken some people’s place in State House. They must be wondering why he was the only pastor praying for General Muhoozi in such a high-profile event for the very privileged few. That used to be Kayanja’s domain and now its Bugingo taking it and he must suffer consequences,” Mirundi said adding that many times Pastor’s wives have been vulnerable to being used to discredit their husbands’ ministry.
“Bugingo is a legitimate target because he has a very large youth crowd which used to be Kayanja’s and that is why it’s his wife Jessica Kayanja at the forefront. This isn’t coincidence.” He revealed that ironically, the marriage of Makerere forestry Professor Naluswa ended in exactly the same way like (his daughter) Teddy Naluswa’s marriage to Bugingo is going to end. In that case, he said, Basoga community elders (Bugiri where Teddy hails from) were appalled to see a daughter teaming up with her mother to cause Prof Naluswa lead very frustrated life until he died.
Away from that, Mirundi said some of the media houses are managed by people who are materially very greedy and believe all the material successes must be theirs. He singled out Bukedde’s Godfrey Kulubya whom he said is very envious of people who materially succeed like Bugingo.
“It’s now becoming official in Uganda that once you get the backing of the First Family they begin to fight you and you get problems. His fellow pastors have now ganged up on him because it used to be them but it’s now Bugingo alone praying for Gen Muhoozi.”
Mirundi claimed he knows how sophisticated Ps Kayanja works. “He took State House to be his alone of all Born Again Pastors and when the bisiyaga [homosexuality] stories came out, he [Kayanja] rang me late in the night at 2am and said you are the spokesperson of State House why don’t you issue a statement defending me? I told him I’m the one but I can’t because the President doesn’t support homosexuality. I told him you are in trouble because someone is trying to target your brother Bishop Sentamu of the UK.”
Saying he made things complicated for himself by not openly being hostile to Bobi Wine, Mirundi said it was now easy for Bugingo’s adversaries to use intelligence agencies to write doctored intelligence reports deceiving that the President that he isn’t a good man for NRM.
Saying he knows a lot about the city pastors’ secrets, Mirundi recalled fighting with Bishop David Kigganda when he endured bad publicity after his wife Night left following claims of a sex affair with Mukwasi, a chapatti maker. “I knew the wife well because she is my sister-in-law but when I started talking, Kigganda went to Serwadda asking him to chase me from Impact fm and I just laughed at that Kigganda man,” Mirundi said.
Mirundi said it’s unfair for the Vision Group, a state-owned media, to always be at the forefront of destroying people’s reputations. “It’s all because they envy others who succeed yet Kulubya’s brother stole a Boda Boda in Luwero and they didn’t write the story. Why are they targeting Bugingo like this? My wish is if Bugingo’s God is real, let him declare fasting and they pray for the Vision Group printery to catch fire so that this nonsense and unprofessionalism of destroying people stops. I caught their man [name withheld] who strayed into my residence trying to photograph it thinking it was Bugingo’s. Why would do you target anyone like that Kulubya? What exactly do you have against Bugingo? You are busy scandalizing others yet you have so many sex scandals in Bukedde and Vision Group. I’m going to expose all of them in my new book titled ‘Bukokolo Bugeyana.’ Your approach is very unethical. This is actually malice and not journalism.”
Mirundi then went on to say that Bugingo could carry on and emerge even stronger because he isn’t the first prominent figure to get disagreements and part with his spouse.
“Even St. Paul knew it wasn’t easy and said only those who can withstand like he can dare celibacy. Even catholic priests secretly have wives and it’s a common problem and Bugingo isn’t the first one to part with his wife. Malawi former President Bakili Muluzi parted with his wife and made it public. He wedded another wife. Former Zambian President Fredrick Chiluba too parted and took on another one. Nelson Mandela did the same with Winnie Mandela. The problem would be forcing things and you wake up one day when the wife has killed Bugingo or vice versa. Is that what would make Bukedde happy? …In the Catholic Church we had Specioza Kazibwe. She talked to the Cardinal about divorcing. There was also Vincent Kimera. The point was what if I married and stayed with someone who hid it from me that we are from the same clan? What do you do about that? In Luganda we say Omukazi akunobako natakuwebula [better she goes and leaves you in dignity].”
Renowned for being a conspiracy theorist, Mirundi maintained that Kayanja and other pastors that Bugingo demystified as big men of God in the city are the invisible hand behind this storm and “it’s also possible one of the Vision Group bosses must be planning to start a church having realized it’s lucrative.” (For comments, email us at mulengera2040@gmail.com).
