A tense mood engulfed Mwanga II Magistrate’s Court in Mengo on Thursday, November 6, when 20-year-old Ssentongo Regan took the stand and gave a chilling account of how his youthful dreams allegedly turned into trauma under the watch of Kampala pastor Robert Kayanja.
The court session, presided over by Chief Magistrate Adams Byarugaba, is part of the long-running trial in which nine men face charges of defamation, trespass, and false accusation against the pastor.
Ssentongo appeared as the eighth witness, narrating a story that left many in the courtroom visibly shaken.
The youthful witness spoke softly as he recounted how his first contact with the church came in 2017, when he was 13 years old. He said a woman moving through his Ndeeba neighbourhood, preaching the word of God, invited idle children to join a church bursary scheme, claiming it was run by Pastor Kayanja’s church.
Ssentongo said he and other boys followed, hopeful for education. They were first introduced to a man called Papa Ivan, who later ushered them to meet the pastor. He said they were asked to testify during the church’s popular 77 Days of Glory (DOGs) services, claiming to be former street children as a condition for receiving bursaries.
He received UGX 50,000 to buy new clothes and was promised a daily facilitation of Shs 5,000, but the promised scholarships never came. When they inquired, the pastor allegedly informed them that arrangements had been made for their “training” at Kabalye Police Training School in Masindi District.
According to Ssentongo, he and many others, were taken to Kabalye for six months before being redeployed to the church as security aides. He said that later, when they began questioning unfulfilled promises, the atmosphere changed, and what followed, he told court, was a series of distressing experiences that left him emotionally and physically scarred, having been sodomized by Kayanja.
He claimed that out of fear, he kept silent, only to later be moved to a farm in Kiryandongo District, called GMF Farm, where he was placed in charge of workers despite his young age.
The courtroom remained silent throughout his testimony, with the prosecution occasionally objecting to some statements as irrelevant to the defamation charges.
Chief Magistrate Byarugaba adjourned the matter to Friday, November 7, for a ruling on preliminary objections and for further cross-examination by the State Attorney.
The trial continues tomorrow.
