Monday 9 April 2007

PASTOR SOLOMON MALE'S TESTMONY ON WITCHCRAFT IN THE UGANDAN PENTECOSTAL MOVEMEMT

Desecration of my kingdom

Sunday, 18th May, 2003


http://www.newvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=126&newsId=134692

Pastor Moses Male
Pastor Solomon Male (pictured) was close to pastors Simeon Kayiwa and Samuel Kakande in the 80s and 90s.

Following the Rochelle Gibler “expose”, Male tells of partaking in witchcraft, divination, intrigue and occult practices in Kakande’s church, and of Kayiwa’s twisted traits

I first met pastor Kayiwa soon after my salvation in 1987. At the time, he had just founded the United Redeemed Council, an umbrella group he claimed covered all the churches that could trace their origins to the late Ghanaian would-be-king and Catholic-priest-turned-prophet, John Obiri Yeboah, who died in Uganda in 1987.

Notable for his miracle working powers, Yeboah couldn’t bear anyone challenging his powers. He brought the gospel of cursing and witchcraft, divination and occult powers camouflaged as the power of the Holy Spirit, hitherto unknown in Uganda.

Kayiwa then fiercely rivalled prophet David Makumbi (World Evangelical Church, Lubya). Makumbi had founded a rival umbrella, the United Reformed Redeemed Council, to which he appointed me Secretary barely two weeks after my salvation.

By virtue of my position, I met many pastors who kept shifting allegiances between the two rival heads. The principal subject of rivalry was the inheritance of Yeboah’s miracle working powers. As a sign of inheritance, whereas Makumbi claimed to have been given shoes, robes and underwear by Yeboah, Kayiwa claimed to have been anointed and appointed by the same prophet.

Although the late Deo Balabyekkubo also claimed to have been given Yeboah’s bible and name of John as a sign of inheritance of Yeboah’s powers and ministry, he quickly struck a deal with Kayiwa. So did numerous Redeemed Church, Katwe prophets and prophetesses.

Pastor Samuel Kakande with his wife Loyce also claimed to have been specially anointed by Yeboah as prophet and prophetess.

On Jan 1, 1988, Makumbi and I, accompanied by an army captain and fully armed escorts attempted to capture and put under our umbrella the Redeemed Church Katwe where Yeboah had been headquartered till death. Our move was repulsed by the Katwe group.

Reinforced by pastors Kayiwa and Balabyekkubo, they traded curses and insults with Makumbi and some elements of our contingent such as prophet Godfrey Lule now headquartered in Kawanda, each doing so “in the name of Jesus”.

Perplexed, I felt I needed to quit Makumbi’s camp. I doubted if he was truly a man of God even through his ministry my eyes and troubling ulcers had been healed.

On May 29, 1988, I joined the Holy Church of Christ headed by the Kakandes. I believed the couple were rightly called by God. Whoever tried to talk otherwise, I dismissed as merely malicious and envious of their miracle working powers, till I came face to face with the truth.

As the couple’s co-pastor, I witnessed a lot of evil committed in the name of “Jesus of prophet John Obiri Yeboah”. The pastors used the dead Yeboah’s spirit to perform miracles and to torment and destroy purported enemies.

They wrote and issued paper talismans; used stinking stuff mixed with water to sprinkle on followers to destroy enemies; and abetted their followers in animal sacrifices and the use of traditionally biased witchcraft materials, all indicative of witchcraft powers. They had divination powers and were fond of cursing while invoking prophet Yeboah’s name.

I witnessed marriages and families being torn apart and healthy people manipulated into relationships with known AIDS sufferers — sufferers whom the Kakande’s claimed to have prayed for and healed in the name of “Jesus of prophet Obiri Yeboah”. Faithfuls were influenced to give their wealth to the couple in the name of Jesus.

The Kakandes claimed to be the only true prophets and ministers of the gospel on earth, mandated to destroy every other church since all were all leading people to hell. Virtually every church in Uganda was targeted.

Under this church destruction strategy, one evening in 1990, the Redeemed Church, Katwe and Kayiwa’s Namirembe Hill premises were sprinkled with specially prepared witchcraft water commonly referred to as “bomb”.

Kakande himself sprinkled the water from a bottle that had been hidden under Loyce’s robe. He said they had come to pray for him to get a spiritual, material and financial breakthrough, having initially excited him by an offer of 55 iron sheets.

Contrary to his expectations, we had gone over to destroy his life and ministry.

Kayiwa then took us around his premises. When we reached his living room, Kakande asked him why Yeboah’s portrait was no where on the wall. Kayiwa’s response was swift: It was up until some European potential sponsors saw it and ordered him to get rid of it in order to qualify for their financial donations. He said the Europeans considered Yeboah a false prophet who practised witchcraft.

“And you got rid of it?” Kakande asked.

“I had done so, but I hung it up again,” Kayiwa replied, before disclosing “a secret he never wanted others to know”: He was plunged into problems after pulling down the portrait — he faced court cases against him and an impending eviction of his church from its location. Kayiwa said that every problem ended when he hung it up again, but this time in a position that only made it visible to insiders.

We monitored Kayiwa’s situation till he fell sick to near death. His ministry leadership broke up exactly as the Kakandes had predicted and to their joy.

Prophet David Makumbi’s ministry in Uganda was also virtually wiped out by the Kakandes.

In 1992, after aborted attempts on my life, God delivered me from the Holy Church of Christ, though not without scars.

One day in 1993, Jackson Kununka, a close friend of mine, told me how he had shared my story with Kayiwa. Kayiwa, he said, wanted to see me.

On April 17, 1993, I gave snippets of my testimony to Kayiwa and showed him some of the exhibits from people who were willing to testify against the Kakandes. Touched, he invited me to give my testimony to his congregation on May 9, 1993.

On the appointed day, I addressed the Namirembe Christian Fellowship congregation, with my wife, children and Kununka by my side. Though given only 40 minutes to speak, people demanded more. And even then, I had to cut the story short.

As I testified, Kayiwa and some former members of the Holy Church of Christ confirmed my testimony. People were touched by the revelations.

The message was taped and, against my instructions, duplicated for sale at the Namirembe Christian Fellowship. I was told that it sold like hot cakes.

Soon, a copy of the tape landed in the hands of the Kakandes. They warned their members not to listen to any of such tapes or else ‘demons’ from Kayiwa and me would torment them all their lives.

In the months that followed, I suffered open persecution from the Kakandes and diehard members of their congregation. Case OB NO E/185/93 was opened against me at the CID headquarters, homicide department. The Kakandes accused me of defaming them and the Holy Church of Christ. I was arrested on August 16, 1993, spent one night in a Wandegeya Police Station cell and was released on Police Bond on August 17, 1993.

On August 19, 1993, I made a 21-page statement at the CID headquarters, citing witchcraft, destruction, marriage break-ups and other evils committed by the couple, concluding that the couple was counterfeit, using the Bible as cover-up for their satanic powers and practices. In conclusion, I said witnesses could verify it. The investigating officer was surprised to see so many people willing to give evidence in my favour.

When the matter reached the press, Kakande bragged that I was on Police bond pending trial for defamation against him. He said that other churches envied him because of his immense spiritual powers. Least expected was the betrayal by Kayiwa, who used his position as Chairman of the Born-Again Churches in Uganda, to tame all the pastors who might have rallied against the Kakandes.

What really had driven him to exonerate the Kakande’s of all the facts I had presented against them in my testimony?

“You know,” he said when I confronted him, “I had a strange dream which compelled me to negotiate. A woman died and was barred from heaven. When she sought to know why, she was told that she hadn’t bothered about her children offending God.”

“And what has that to do with the case?” I asked. “You know,” he answered; “I head all the born-again Churches in Uganda and Kakande and Loyce are my children whom I must help to spiritually reform or I will have to answer for their blood.”

I severed spiritual ties with Kayiwa and consequently, a lot happened.

His Benz had been grounded for some time; the Kakandes paid for its repair. Touting for the couple, he one day organised pastors who went to Kakande’s residence to search for the stinking witchcraft liquid I had mentioned in my testimony. I was branded a disgruntled liar because Kakande told them to search for it all over their complex and they couldn’t find it. But would he leave any incriminating evidence when he organised the ‘search’?

On September 25, 1993, this letter to the editor was published in The New Vision:
It has come to our knowledge (Namirembe Christian Fellowship) that there are defamatory tapes against pastor Kakande and his church in circulation, purportedly being circulated by us.

I would like to put it that we have never sold or circulated defamatory tapes and we say that whoever is selling or circulating them should stop doing so. We no longer regard whatever was said in them as being correct though we do admit that in the course of Male S. (Solomon) repentance in the church, such had been recorded.

... Mr. Male S. is neither one of the leaders nor a member of our church.

At the same time, I would like to completely disassociate myself from the utterances made by Solomon Male in the tape.

Signed, Pastor Simeon Kayiwa
P O Box 9096, Kampala.

As the 1993 Christmas approached, I went to the CID headquarters determined to end the impasse in the case.

“Just give me sometime to meet Kakande and his wife, and we see, whether it is court or not,” Ali Akida, the OC Homicide told me.

When I went back on the appointed day, Akida smiled when he saw me, and said, “Pastor Male, I have good news for you. Sit down.”

“I met pastor Kakande and his wife, and had an in-depth discussion with them. He (Kakande) admitted that it is only you and them who know the truth about what really happened, and for that matter, he has decided not to pursue the matter anymore. He has withdrawn all the charges, and you are now a free man.”

Shrewdly, the Kakandes cornered Kayiwa into a partnership to commemorate the arrival of Obiri Yeboah to Uganda, and all agreed that all churches that trace their origin from the works of Yeboah would be involved.

Balabyekkubo and other big name pastors were involved in the preparation of December 4, 1993 function and the re-launch of the Yeboah initiative into Uganda. The commemoration resembled a political scenario.

Followers resolved that the unity of all Yeboah churches be strengthened, and that non-confrontational, non-interference policies like those of the defunct OAU adopted by all. The Obiri Yeboah sentiment did a lot to maintain Kayiwa on top of the born-again churches’ fellowship.

Between 1993-1996, many born-again pastors, influenced by the Kakandes rejected me, branding me a Muslim possessed by the spirit of Islam. This is no different from the way Kayiwa has branded Rochelle Gibler a Catholic who wanted to further a Catholic agenda, even if she did nothing here to promote Roman Catholicism in Uganda. Hasn’t every born-again a spiritual background?

Samuel and Loyce Kakande separated in May 1996, amid accusations and counter-accusations of the very things I had exposed about them in 1993.

Newspapers subsequently reported:
Sunday Vision of July 7, 1996, pages 14-15 carried the headline: “No longer at ease in the “Church of Christ”. Accusations of greed, witchcraft, and infidelity have divided and bedevilled the church.”

The Crusader of August 9, 1997 depicted the couple as quarrelling prophets whose “spiritual ship run aground amid accusations of witchcraft and struggle for earthly possessions.” — Page 9 paragraph 18. Paragraph 19 adds: “The couple grabbed newspaper headlines in stories that exposed the dark world they are alleged to be still living in as they continue to minister for God.”


Pastor Solomon Male exposes Kakande

http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=131&newsId=503159

Disowned pastors hit back

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/219/503339/Pastor%20Solomon%20Male


Pastors disown Kakande

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/498699/Pastor%20Solomon%20Male


Pentecostal leaders disown Kakande

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/502375/%20Solomon%20Male

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/60/502534/%20Solomon%20Male

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/60/498466/%20Solomon%20Male

Kakande and the Catholic Church

http://www.sundayvision.co.ug/detail.php?mainNewsCategoryId=7&newsCategoryId=131&newsId=558523


Omusumba Kayiwa alagidde Namutebi alabirire ‘muggyawe’
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/60/116588/%20%20Simeon%20Kayiwa

Ebya Kayiwa biranze

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/66/342165/%20%20Simeon%20Kayiwa

Omusumba Kayiwa bamulumirizza obulogo

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/69/129275/%20%20Simeon%20Kayiwa

Lipoota ku Kayiwa

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/66/341888/%20%20Simeon%20Kayiwa


Ababuuliriza ku Kayiwa boogedde

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/69/138808/%20%20Simeon%20Kayiwa

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/61/132257/%20%20Simeon%20Kayiwa

Born Again Churches Defend Kayiwa
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/129492/Pastor%20Simeon%20Kayiwa

Abalokole basaba lipoota eyejjeereza omusumba Kayiwa

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/226/333098/%20%20Simeon%20Kayiwa


Pastor Denies Witchcraft

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/129293/Pastor%20Simeon%20Kayiwa

Abaakonjera Omusumba Kayiwa abawadde ennaku 30 okwetonda

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/69/326529/%20%20Simeon%20Kayiwa


Born-Again Drop Pastor Kayiwa

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/19/344050/Pastor%20Simeon%20Kayiwa


Split over Kayiwa probe
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/341712/Pastor%20Simeon%20Kayiwa


Pastor Kayiwa probe committee divided

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/336497/Pastor%20Simeon%20Kayiwa


More To Testify On Kayiwahttp://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/19/151824/Pastor%20Simeon%20Kayiwa


Team Completes Pastor Kayiwa Inquiries

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/146290/Pastor%20Simeon%20Kayiwa

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/61/317132/%20%20Simeon%20Kayiwa

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/61/311181/%20%20Simeon%20Kayiwa


Kayiwa Probe Pushed Forward

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/141654/Pastor%20Simeon%20Kayiwa

Kayiwa Quits
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/132281/Pastor%20Simeon%20Kayiwa

Kayiwa Writings on the wall
Male ayongedde bwino ku Basumba. ‘Babbi’

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/66/495140/%20%20Simeon%20Kayiwa


http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/21/131066/Pastor%20Simeon%20Kayiwa

Torture Allegations against Kayiwa
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/58/61/544874/%20%20Simeon%20Kayiwa