Pastor, three followers arrested over shunning enumeration exercise

“The preliminary findings indicate that an enumerator while on duty on Thursday, May 16 moved to the premises of Pastor Samuel Kalibala. However, the pastor was in church with some elderly people.

"They refused to come out and be counted, claiming they do not believe in the government's plan to count people, but in Jesus," Ms Kawala said in an interview on Friday.

“The enumerator went ahead and explained the importance of being counted, but they refused. Shortly after that, they locked themselves inside the church leaving the enumerator outside,” she added.

Mr Kawala said the enumerator informed the police, which opened up a general inquiry file on the suspects.

“Our officers rushed to the scene and found some people locked inside. A means of accessing the church was found, and the suspects were arrested," she said.

Currently detained at Mityana Central Police Station, the suspects will be charged with obstructing an authorised officer. 

In Uganda, cult-like religious groups have gained a bad reputation after the infamous March 17, 2000 incident in Kanungu District, where at least 700 people died after their leaders locked them inside a church and set it on fire.

Joseph Kibwetere led the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, a doomsday cult that believed the world would end at the turn of the millennium.

Almost 20 followers of Pastor Samuel Kalibbala fled with him to a secret location on May 17, 2022, claiming that "God told him that the world would soon come to an end and they had to evacuate". Pastor Kalibbala was arrested a day later when he was sneaking out of his house.

Pastor Kalibala could be leading a dangerous cult, says Mr Badru Kavuma, the chairperson of Naama Village.

“They pray at night on a banana plantation, and when you join their faith, your clothes are burned when you go to pray," he said.