Kampala, Uganda: A 30-year-old boda-boda rider, Alex Wakamala, on Thursday endured a gruelling cross-examination before Mwanga II Court as the State sought to test the credibility of his claims against Lubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral senior pastor, Robert Kayanja.
Wakamala is among nine men accused of falsely alleging that Pastor Kayanja committed unnatural offences and trespassed at his church in 2017.
In his sworn testimony last week, Wakamala told court that Pastor Kayanja had inappropriately touched him and sexually assaulted him against his will.
However, during nearly eight hours of heated cross-examination, Chief State Attorney Jonathan Muwaganya pressed Wakamala on inconsistencies in his testimony.
The witness reportedly struggled to recall specific events while denying knowledge of key timelines that formed the basis of his allegations.
Wakamala could not explain when he bought his current phone, the type of handset he uses, or how his two earlier phones, believed by the State to contain crucial evidence, went missing.
During the exchanges, Mr Muwaganya pressed the witness about inconsistencies in his story. He reminded court that none of Wakamala’s allegations had ever been directly put to Pastor Kayanja when he previously appeared before court.
“Your story is a choreographed story coached to you,” the prosecutor said.
Wakamala replied firmly: “No.”
Court also heard that one of the alleged accomplices, Collins Kisakye, was never questioned about claims that he had been coerced to sodomise Wakamala. “It surprises me because I had told them,” Wakamala said when confronted with the gap.
At one point, Mr Muwaganya accused the witness of fabricating claims about losing his phones. “You have never lost any phone. You lied because you wanted to plant videos on an existing phone in order to concoct evidence against Pastor Kayanja,” he argued.
Wakamala, who told court he dropped out of school in Primary Three and has since worked odd jobs including brickmaking and chapati vending, maintained his earlier claims despite the bruising cross-examination.
Prosecutor Muwaganya told court that Wakamala and his co-accused were never victims of the alleged offence, but instead part of a wider plot allegedly orchestrated by another city pastor to tarnish Pastor Kayanja’s reputation.
The case, which has drawn public attention for over a decade, stems from accusations made in 2009 when several young men alleged that Pastor Kayanja sexually assaulted them.
Trial Grade One Magistrate Adams Byarugaba adjourned the matter to September 10 for further cross-examination of Wakamala.
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