Born-again churches in Uganda are becoming more popular, politically powerfully yet dogged by debris of controversies. Pastors are of late in the limelight thanks to the Prophet Samuel Kakande’s “holy rice” which goes for a Shs50,000 a kilo and Pastor Robert Kayanja’s ongoing 77 days of glory (77 DOGS) daily overnight prayers.
The case of pastors and Ugandans’ unquenchable thirst for miracles has fuelled a big debate. Pastor Solomon Male has weighed in, making shocking revelations about the so called “men of God”.
According to him, most top pastors are ripping desperate people off and hood winking them in the name of quick fixes.
The pastor while speaking on Capital FM on Tuesday morning revealed various tricks several pastors are using to manipulate their followers. Without mincing words, he described pastors as wolves among sheep.
“They are gangsters, robbers, religious merchants, miracle fakers, thieves. They are greedy and ruthless. They don’t mind if you die. As long as they get what they want, they don’t care about you. Their goal is to enrich themselves,” he stated.
Prophet Samuel Kakande
Pastor Male claims he was once the “number two” in Prophet Kakande’s church between 1988 to I992. He claimed his task was how to lay a smart strategy to hoodwink and manipulate desperate people who came seeking miracles. He, Kakande a thief who came to Kampala in slippers and turned to conning people using the Gospel.
“He is defrauding people and has found favour in the executive of this country. He has turned his people into market for his products and sells and earns super normal profits. He rips off desperate people by faking miracles.”
He claimed the pastor buys off people and ferries them to the church to give false testimonies and fake miracles at a fee with some earning up to over Shs500,000 for their dramatic antics.
At Kakande’s Synagogue Church of all Nations, there is a range of “holy retail merchandise” including holy water which is fetched from a well at the church at a fee per jerrycan. Holy rice is the latest “commodity” given that his expansive farm churns out tonnes of rice.
Pastor Augustine Yiga
During the radio show, one David, a caller supplemented Male’s stories with his testimony about how Pastor Yiga of Revival Ministries in Kawaala asked him for over Shs1.2m to be prayed for to receive his miracle. He had suffered an acute illness, losing over 30kg in a short period of time. While there, he was asked to write down his problem, his details, personal information which included his job description and salary.
“Yiga asked me for Shs1.2m to get a miracle for my medical condition. We bargained till to Shs750,000 –his last price for the miracle,” David , a banker, revealed. He further revealed that priority is given to the highest bidder for a miracle. After he made the payment, he was “prayed for” by the pastor but his condition worsened. A lady was assigned to keep in touch with him. They would call him and tell him to bring more money. Pastor Male labelled Yiga a miracle faker and “impregnator of women”.
Pastor Robert Kayanja
Male repeated his claims that the Rubaga Miracle Cathedral lead pastor is a homosexual and one of the several fake pastors in the city who has been using his links to kill off cases and staging confessions to hoodwink the public.
He said Pastor Kayanja claimed to have cured one Kigozi a mad man in the 1980s but his sudden disappearance left (and still leaves) a lot of unanswered questions. According to Male, the mad man had gained a bit of sanity and was socialising so Pastor Kayanja capitalised on the “manna” that had fallen to get more followers.
“When I investigated his disappearance, I was told he ate soap and died. Another group at his church confided in me that he got killed after he ran mad again because he would have nullified the miracle,” he stated.
Male further alleged that while Pastor Kayanja claims to be healing people, he flew his daughter who was suffering from cancer abroad to receive chemotherapy. “Why didn’t he heal her or take her to his friend Benny Hinn,” Male queried.
Male claimed one Bishop Patrick Makumbi of Gospel Healing Centre paid one Kato to pretend he is a mad man who grew up in a home of cannibals but it was all stage managed. He mentioned more names of pastors like Aloysius Bugingo who asks his flock to “sow seeds” in dollars so that he makes more money.
A message to the president
Male states that these pastors have kept the president close to them so that when cases like sodomy, rape, smuggling or extortion are brought against them, the president will pay a deaf ear.