Kayanja sodomy case stalls after magistrate falls ill

The trial of nine youths accused of falsely alleging sodomy against renowned Kampala pastor Robert Kayanja was Friday, May 9 deferred after the presiding magistrate, Adams Byarugaba, reportedly fell ill and was unable to proceed with the hearing.

The court was scheduled to continue with the defence testimony expected from a second accused person following Monday’s dramatic session, where 24-year-old Martin Kagoro delivered an unsworn statement accusing Pastor Kayanja of manipulating him with promises of money and foreign travel before allegedly abusing him.

"I was lured with promises of going abroad and getting jobs in church departments. At one point, I was even sent for police training in Kabalye. But after all that, I was turned into a victim," Kagoro testified.

However, the prosecution, led by Mr Jonathan Muwaganya, has relied heavily on medical examination reports from Mulago National Referral Hospital to challenge the credibility of the allegations.

“All the accused underwent anal examinations, and the results showed that their sphincters were intact,” Mr Muwaganya told court earlier.

Adding.... “This calls into question how any repeated acts of anal sex could have occurred without physical evidence of trauma.”

Because Kagoro’s statement was unsworn, the prosecution was not permitted to cross-examine him, limiting their ability to challenge inconsistencies in his narrative.

The accused were, in November last year, ordered to defend themselves after the court ruled they had a case to answer on charges of criminal trespass and giving false information to police. 

The state alleges that the accused unlawfully entered Rubaga Miracle Cathedral on September 17, 2021, and later falsely reported to Kawempe Police Station that Pastor Kayanja had sodomized them.

Meanwhile, the court’s arrest warrant against Tracy Namugga, Patrick Ayebare, and Abdul Kayondo sureties for one of the suspects; Moses Tumwine, who remains at large remains in effect.

“These sureties have failed in their legal duty to produce the accused in court. Their arrest is necessary to ensure accountability,” Mr Byarugaba ruled earlier this week.

Pastor Kayanja, who gave his testimony last year, denied all allegations, stating that the accusations are not new and that similar “plots were attempted against me in 2010 and 2013. I defeated them in court then, and I will do so again.”

Court has extended Tumwine’s arrest warrant and adjourned the case to May 23, when it is hoped the magistrate will have recovered and ready to continue hearing the case.