Kampala, Uganda: The highly anticipated trial of nine youths battling charges of falsely accusing renowned City Pastor Robert Kayanja of sodomy stalled on Thursday after the presiding magistrate, Adams Byarugaba, was reported unwell and unable to continue proceedings.
The Mwanga II Magistrates Court was set to resume today, hearing defence testimony from the second accused, following Monday’s dramatic session in which Martin Kagoro, 24, made an unsworn statement accusing the Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral Founder of manipulating him with promises of money and foreign travel before allegedly abusing him.
“I was lured with promises of going abroad and jobs in church departments. At one point, I was even sent for police training in Kabalye. But after all that, I was turned into a victim,” Kagoro told court, but because his statement was unsworn, the prosecution was barred from cross-examining him.
The prosecution, led by Jonathan Muwaganya, has repeatedly dismissed the allegations, citing medical evidence from Mulago National Referral Hospital which reportedly showed that all the accused had “intact anal sphincters,” raising questions about the physical credibility of repeated sexual abuse claims.
“This calls into question how any repeated acts of anal sex could have occurred without physical evidence of trauma,” Muwaganya previously submitted.
The group, first charged in 2021, is accused of criminal trespass and giving false information to police after allegedly entering Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral under false pretenses on September 17, 2021, and later reporting fabricated sodomy claims at Kawempe Police Station.
The court also maintained its arrest warrant for Tracy Namugga, Patrick Ayebare, and Abdul Kayondo, who stood surety for Moses Tumwine, one of the accused who remains on the run.
“These sureties have failed in their legal duty to produce the accused in court,” Magistrate Byarugaba ruled earlier this week, adding that “their arrest is necessary to ensure accountability.”
Pastor Kayanja, in his testimony given last year, dismissed the accusations as recycled falsehoods. “These accusations are nothing new. Similar plots were attempted against me in 2010 and 2013. I defeated them in court then, and I will do so again,” he said.
The case has been adjourned to May 23, 2025, when court expects to resume if the magistrate recovers.
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