One of the nine accused youths in the sodomy case involving city pastor Robert Kayanja, Reagan Ssentongo, on Wednesday rejected a video presented by the prosecution as evidence against him, insisting he had been coached by the Miracle center church lead preacher to falsely portray himself as a former street boy in order to attract foreign donations.
Ssentongo, who was being cross-examined by Chief State Attorney Jonathan Muwaganya before Mwanga II Chief Magistrate Adams Byarugaba, dismissed the video after it was played in court. In the footage, recorded shortly after he joined Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral in 2016, Ssentongo was seen telling the congregation that he had lived on the streets before finding a new life through Pastor Kayanja’s church.
Ssentongo and other eight young men are facing charges of defamation, criminal trespass, conspiracy, among others, after they were arrested from Pastor Kayanja’s church in Rubaga in 202, when they had allegedly gone to demand for their money which the pastor had promised to give them after repeatedly sodomizing each of them, together with the one they say they had worked for as security guards among other assignments.
The prosecution relied on the video to argue that Ssentongo had lied in his testimony before court and was now fabricating allegations against the pastor.
However, Ssentongo maintained that everything he said in the recording had been rehearsed beforehand.
He told court that Pastor Kayanja and a church administrator he identified as “Papa Ivan” coached him and the other youths on exactly what to say so they could convince foreign sponsors to support them together with the church.
Pointing at Papa Ivan, who was present in court, Ssentongo maintained that he joined the church after being promised that sponsors would help him continue with his education.
“I was coached to say whatever I said so that we could get funders. That’s why you’ve heard Pastor Kayanja saying money had already started coming in,” Ssentongo told court.
Indeed, in the same video, Kayanja is heard informing the congregation that one of his spiritual sons living abroad had pledged to send Shs100,000 every month to support the boys.
Ssentongo, however, insisted the entire presentation before the congregation was designed to solicit donations rather than tell the truth about their backgrounds, adding that he had come from home in Ndeeba where he lived with his mother.
Earlier, Muwaganya had also played what he claimed was a voice recording of Ssentongo meeting one of the most vocal city pastors whom the prosecution alleges has been encouraging the youths to falsely accuse Kayanja.
But Ssentongo dismissed the recording, saying the audio was too unclear for anyone to identify his voice. He challenged the prosecutor to point out the exact section where he allegedly spoke, something Muwaganya did not do before moving on to the video evidence.
Ssentongo further rejected suggestions that he had no formal job within Kayanja’s establishment, insisting that while deployed at the pastor’s farm in Kiryandongo, he carried out several assignments, including being used as a homosexual recruitment agent, in addition to other duties.
The case continues before Mwanga II Court, with the prosecution seeking to discredit the testimonies of the nine youths, while the accused insist they are recounting what they experienced during their time under Kayanja’s care.
