MITYANA, UGANDA: Police in Mityana District have arrested one Samuel Kalibbala, a born-again pastor who had disappeared with more than 20 followers of his church in a surprise move.
Wamala Regional Police Spokesperson Ms. Rachel Kawala confirmed that Pastor Samuel Kalibbala was on Friday morning arrested with a group of 12 people at his home in Naama Village, Busimbi Division, Mityana Municipality after some of the five victims resurfaced and reported a case at Mityana central police station.
Ms. Kawala said the pastor was arrested following a tip-off from intelligence reports that he was sneaking into his house on Friday morning at around 2 am; “Before the arrest, five victims in a disappearance case had resurfaced and reported to Mityana Central Police Station (CPS) on May 26, which prompted us to intensify our intelligence and had him arrested on Friday May 27.”
She also noted that five other suspects are in police custody at Mityana CPS to help with investigations over the same matter.
“These include the founder of Nakwangu Church of Christ Christian –Centre, ‘pastor’ Benard Twajira Yezu,64, Ttamu Village resident Eric Kawuki,20, student Shakim Sekyewa,18, teacher Harriet Kajubi, 53 and a 62-year-old midwife, Harriet Nalweyiso,” said Ms. Kawala.
Background
It is alleged that Pastor Kalibbala and his wife ten days ago disappeared with some of his followers from Naama Village to an undisclosed location saying “God had spoken to him that the world will soon come to an end and they had to abandon their homes.”.
Residents say Kalibbala and his wife are primary school teachers who abandoned their profession and rented a room in Naama trading center where they have been running a church without a name.
Mr Sulait Kintu, a resident of Mityana Municipality said his wife Jessica Namuwaya went missing on May 17 together with their five children.
But before that, Mr Kintu observed that his children had started rejecting school.
“During the first week of this term, I gave them fees to go to school, but they refused to go. On May 16, I asked my children why they had refused schooling and they claimed they didn’t want to be vaccinated,” he told this publication.
Mr Kintu added that the children, with their mother, opted for prayers at Kalibala’s church the following day and never returned home.
“After spending some days without seeing my children and wife, I went to the home of their pastor but he and his family had also disappeared. This forced me to report the matter to police,” he noted.
On Tuesday, Mr Badru Kavuma, the chairperson of Naama Village told DailyMonitor that he was suspicious of ‘pastor’ Kalibbala’s conduct saying he could be leading a dangerous cult .
“They pray at night in a banana plantation and once you join their faith, the clothes which you put on when going to pray are put on fire,” he noted.
Additional Reporting from DailyMonitor
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