They say, “A hungry man is an angry man,” and it seems Pastor Solomon Mwesige’s empire of faith and education is breeding frustration instead of blessings.
Known for his vast wealth and influence, Pastor Solomon, the revered leader of Good News Church in Bulenga, owns not just the pulpit but an empire of schools, King Solomon’s Kindergarten and Junior School in Bulenga, and King Solomon’s Secondary School in Kyengeza.
Add KS TV and a Presidency at Feed the Hungry to the mix, and you have one of Uganda’s wealthiest pastors.
But beneath this glittering kingdom lies a dark cloud. Teachers in his schools and workers at KS TV are allegedly starving, literally and figuratively. They’ve endured months without salaries, their pockets empty while their boss basks in prosperity.
“Even the ant prepares for the rainy day,” said one teacher, lamenting how their pleas for help have fallen on deaf ears. Christmas, the season of giving, became a season of dodging for Pastor Solomon and his wife, Doreen, who oversees the schools. Workers say their attempts to get a little money [off their outstanding salaries] for the holidays were met with silence, leaving them to face the season with empty tables.
Ironically, Pastor Solomon is the president of Feed the Hungry in Africa, an organization changing lives in Karamoja, and the world over. Yet his own employees, some with families to feed and children to educate, are struggling to survive.
Meanwhile, parents of students at his schools are forced to pay fees on time, with no leniency given for those who fall behind, no matter how small the balance. No child is allowed to sit for exams if any fee remains unpaid, a strict rule that has parents scrambling to meet financial demands. But when teachers demand their salaries, they are told that Pastor Solomon is finishing a certain building first, and that he employed them, so they should trust that he knows he has to pay them and avoid pressuring him.
As the proverb goes, “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, but the poor man’s poverty is his destruction.” While the pastor’s kingdom shines on the outside, his workers are crying out for justice from the shadows. For now, it seems the prayers of the hungry have yet to reach the heavens, or the pastor’s pocket.
