By Mulengera Reporters
On Thursday, one of the nine accused boys in the sodomy case involving Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral pastor Robert Kayanja asked court to consider directing investigations into the pastor over the sodomy allegations, and also consider the closure of the church as he concluded his defence submissions.
Reagan Ssentongo, 21, made the request before Mwanga II Chief Magistrate Adams Byarugaba at Mengo, as he wrapped up his defence testimony in the long-running case.
Ssentongo told court that based on the evidence he had presented, including his allegations about events he said occurred at a farm in Kiryandongo and other places, where he cited several occasions of him and others being sodomized by Kayanja, he said the pastor should be subjected to further investigations over the accusations made against him by Ssentongo and eight co-accused.
He also asked the court to consider measures against (including closing the church) Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral, arguing that the sodomy allegations required attention from the government.
The requests formed part of Ssentongo’s final defence submissions after several months of testimony in which he narrated his account of events that he said began while he was still a teenager (13).
During his defence, Ssentongo told court that he was introduced into what he described as a recruitment arrangement while working at a farm in Kiryandongo, where he claimed he was assigned duties including recruiting young boys from the Bunyoro region into homosexuality.
He told court that he was shown firearms at the farm, including eight big guns and six pistols and given authority over them, and responsibilities which he linked to what he described as a wider system.
Ssentongo further testified that he was instructed by Pastor Kayanja to communicate through platforms including WhatsApp, Telegram and Messenger, where according to him, updates and other sodomy materials including ponographic photos and videos were shared.
He also told court about an alleged interaction with a foreign national, allegedly from the United States of America, claiming the person trained him on identifying recruits, most of whom, according to him, introduced to Kayanja and he allegedly sodomized them.
The accused also alleged that he was promised financial rewards, travel opportunities and possible relocation to the U.S when he was a juvenile,, with Kayanja promising to use his powers to influence the National Identification Registration Authority (NIRA) to make for him a national identity card which he said he finally got, without even going to NIRA offices.
Ssentongo told court that the arrangement later broke down following disagreements over payments which had allegedly been promised to him and his colleagues for being sodomized by the pastor over the years.
He further testified that in 2021, he and other accused persons went to Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral to demand money they claimed they were owed and other payments they said had been promised.
According to his testimony, they were arrested and taken to Old Kampala Police Station, and later transferred to different police and prison facilities.
Ssentongo also told court that after his transfer to Murchison Bay Prison with fellow accused Khalifa Labeeb, Chief State Attorney Jonathan Muwaganya allegedly visited them and advised them to change their account and implicate other pastors instead, claims he maintained during cross-examination by Muwaganya himself on Thursday, saying the prosecutor allegedly wanted them to state that pastors including Jackson Ssenyonga, David Kiganda, Aloysius Bugingo and Pastor Male had influenced them to accuse Pastor Kayanja.
Muwaganya denied the allegation and asked the court to order production of CCTV footage from Murchison Bay Prison to establish whether he ever visited the accused.
Magistrate Byarugaba granted the request and ordered that the footage be presented before court. The matter was adjourned to July 16 for further proceedings. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
