Pastor Kayanja Trial: Accused denies managing Kiryandongo farm

Some of the suspects in the dock

One of the nine people accused in a case involving Pastor Robert Kayanja has told court that he was never the manager of Kayanja’s Kiryandongo farm, contradicting what the prosecution said was his previous position.

Regan Ssentongo made the remarks during cross examination before Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Adams Byarugaba as the prosecution continued presenting digital evidence extracted from his mobile phone.

Ssentongo maintained that he and the other accused went to Miracle Centre Cathedral in Lubaga in 2021 to demand salaries they claimed they had earned while working at Kiryandongo farm.

Led in cross examination by State Attorney Jonathan Muwaganya, Ssentongo confirmed that he had been deployed to the farm after receiving training and was responsible for equipment kept in the farm store. However, he denied ever serving as the farm’s general manager.

The prosecution asked why he and the other accused allegedly abandoned the farm on July 18, 2021. Ssentongo replied that he was the only one who left.

Court also heard that after leaving the farm, Ssentongo opened Rasha Music Studio in Kigumba. He nevertheless claimed that the business belonged to Pastor Kayanja.

The prosecution relied on a series of WhatsApp messages exchanged between Ssentongo and Pastor Kayanja.

In one message dated May 5, 2021, Ssentongo wrote: “Good morning Papa. My guys are coming back from the farm. Therefore do something for them.”

According to the messages presented in court, Pastor Kayanja replied that Ssentongo had resigned the previous week and that he had struggled to raise money for him.

“I managed to get you one million shillings,” the message attributed to Kayanja stated.

Another message presented in court quoted Kayanja as saying: “I have never been bad to you or treated you badly. By the time you came, I trained you. When you were sick, I treated you. So little respect can be given to me.”

Ssentongo acknowledged that by May 2021 he and the others had already left the farm.

The court further heard that Ssentongo continued sending messages asking for financial assistance and payment of what he described as his outstanding salary.

When asked whether he was demanding payment for work done at the farm or money connected to his allegations of homosexuality, Ssentongo did not give a direct answer.

The prosecution also referred the court to another message dated May 19, 2021, in which Pastor Kayanja allegedly told Ssentongo that if he had entrusted him with managing the farm, he should have exercised patience.

Ssentongo responded in the same conversation that he had never been the manager of the farm but was instead “an agent of homosexuals” at the farm.

The court also examined another message in which Ssentongo appeared to apologise to Pastor Kayanja.

“Please Mzee, I never wanted to hurt you, but because of other people I had to do so,” the message read.

The prosecution further presented messages in which Ssentongo informed Pastor Kayanja that Mutabaazi had died and that he had taken responsibility for caring for his mother.

During the hearing, however, Ssentongo clarified that the deceased was not his biological father but his paternal uncle.

Ssentongo also admitted in court that he and others had agreed to cause chaos in an effort to recover money they believed was owed to them.

Audio recordings played in court captured conversations between Ssentongo and Moses Tumwiine about a proposed meeting with Pastor Aloysius Bugingo.

According to the recordings, the meeting did not take place after Bugingo reportedly informed them that he was unavailable.

The court also heard that several forwarded messages exchanged among Sam Magoomu, Moses Tumwiine and Adrian Ssebaale were recovered from Ssentongo’s phone during forensic analysis.

Although he maintained that he left the farm in 2021 before the group went to Miracle Centre Cathedral, Ssentongo insisted that he still considers himself an employee of Pastor Kayanja because he has never received a formal letter terminating his employment.

Chief Magistrate Byarugaba adjourned the case to August 6 for the defence to conduct re-cross examination of Ssentongo.