Ex-priest wants job back after acquittal

When the Rev Can Kezekiah Kalule, an Anglican priest formerly attached to Luweero Diocese, was arrested and charged with the offence of aggravated defilement in 2018, the Church dropped him from its list of priests.

Ordinarily, the reverend, now aged 68, would have formally retired at 65 in 2020. His arrest and imprisonment dashed any hopes that he would slip away quietly into a respectable retirement. 

Even after he secured court bail on health grounds and advanced age after spending more than a year on remand, he never went back to active Church service.

He still had to prove his innocence during a subsequent High Court hearing.

Rev Kalule was recently acquitted of the charge of aggravated defilement in the High Court and now wants the Church to reconsider its position and allow him to serve again out the years that he lost. 

“I was disowned by the Church because of the nature of the case. I had to battle the case as an individual. God has been on my side. I had looked forward to a formal retirement when I reached the mandatory retirement age of 65, but this did not happen. I have gone back to the Church, briefed them and to find out about my status. I am now 68-years-old,” he said in an interview.

The pain that the Rev Kalule carries is made harder to bear because he left the service of the Lord without a clerical collar. 

Now that the courts have cleared him of a charge which raised eyebrows amongst the Christian community and general public, Rev Kalule wants a second chance at an honourable discharge that will enable him to walk into retirement as a member of the clergy.

In an interview with this paper, Luweero Diocesan Secretary, Rev Eric Ssebigaju, revealed that the diocese is aware of the acquittal and is considering the matter.

“Yes, the Rev Can Kezekiah Kalule recently reported to the diocesan office. He clocked the retirement age and we have his file,” he said.

The case
While serving at Luteete and Kikyusa Archdeaconry which are under Luweero Diocese between 2014 and 2018, Rev Kalule was alleged to have engaged in unlawful sexual acts with a 16-year-old girl under his care.

In Uganda, one must be 18 years or older before indulging in sexual activities, consensual or otherwise.

Statements recorded by the alleged victim with the police claimed that the reverend started having sex with the girl in 2017. A defilement case was reported to police in 2018 after the victim conceived.

Rev Kalule was arrested and charged with aggravated defilement.

The matter was heard at Luweero High Court under criminal session Case No. 61 of 2022; Uganda versus Rev Can Kezekiah Kalule as the accused.

Court ruling               
Justice Damalie N. Lwanga on June 15 set the reverend free after the prosecution failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

“Having found as I did that the ingredient of participation of the accused in performing a sexual act upon the victim has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt, I do depart from the assessor’s opinion. I note that the assessor treated the contradictions in the prosecution case lightly, which I found to be grave,” part of a statement in her judgment reads.

The judge noted that the alleged victim must have told lies in one of the two police statements whose contents were contradictory. She also lied to the court about when she made the statements, Judge Lwanga ruled.

The contradictions
The trial judge found inconsistency in the reports that the victim made to police about who was responsible for her pregnancy.

“Her conduct of implicating two different people in the defilement and paternity of her child in statements made more than one month apart, shows untruthfulness in regard to the identity of her defiler,” the judge ruled.

Rev Kalule told Monitor after winning the case that his arrest and prosecution was based on malice by a colleague who had worked under his office but was dismissed for misconduct.

“This case was about a smear campaign and malice by a staff member that got dismissed for misconduct. This [accuser] was just like my daughter. When we expelled this church worker, she cooked the story to put my life in danger,” he said.

Now, he awaits absolution and possible reinstatement by the Church.

Accusation
The case of Rev Can Kezekiah Kalule involves allegations of aggravated defilement. 

Rev Kalule, an Anglican priest formerly attached to Luweero Diocese, was accused of engaging in unlawful sexual acts with a 16-year-old girl under his care while serving at Luteete and Kikyusa Archdeaconry between 2014 and 2018.