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Almost everyday, as he preached he mobilised his followers to attend the court session. He promised them that an earth shuttering video will be shown before court.
Come d-day and what was promised was simply hot air. Pastor Sseyonga as usual had promised much but delivered nothing.
Robert Ojambo and Humprey Tumwesigye the lawyers of Ssenyonga who he had hired to defend the suspects tried their level best to squeeze a damning statement from Enock Kanene, a police foresincs expert who was under cross examination but it was simply like trying to squeeze water from a rock.
Kanene stated that he had retrieved a video that had been sent from a number belonging to Pastor Robert Kayanja to one of the accused Reagan Ssentongo. He claimed that t had been deleted but that he had retrieved it. He also claimed that the video had been deleted by the sender; Kayanja.
When Court asked him to play the video he showed blurry meaningless images that would make one think it was a plot simply to make people think that a video existed.
When the prosecuter Jomanathan Muwaganya sought leave to re-open cross examination and it was granted he pinned him till he scratched his head like he was clueless before admitting that there was no message deleted because the whatsapp doesn’t provide that database trace.
How it played out in court
The State Prosecutor Jonathan Muwaganya stood up, holding a stack of papers, his expression stern.
“Your Honor,” the prosecutor began, his voice echoing off the concrete walls. “A6 was released in front of the defense during the last session, but the defense didn’t even bother to ask the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) for formal documents regarding where exactly he can be found. Kagolo was seen in the compound of these courts last time, but then he vanished. My sources have gathered that he had a heated argument with his colleagues about the per-session allowance given to them.”
The prosecutor paused, glancing toward the defense bench. “When we asked about his whereabouts, they refused to disclose it. Furthermore, while his main job is actually as a hawker, they simply claimed that Kagolo owns a shop, which is entirely untrue. When this court issued strict orders in the last session, that is the only reason A6 has returned to court today, sneaking back in under the company of counsel Humphrey.”
Turning fully to the Magistrate, the prosecutor raised his hand defensively. “Your Honor, any purported arrest by the KCCA without a supporting document should not be permitted, and we pray that the court cancels his bail. The excuses provided by Kagolo are entirely unsupported by evidence.”
Defense counsel sprang to his feet. “The claim that the accused receives incentives to appear is not made in good faith! This is not a civil case, Your Honor, it is criminal.”
Humphrey, co-counsel for the defense, stepped forward to smooth things over, adopting a more pragmatic, street-wise tone. “About the KCCA requiring a formal release… Your Honor, that is a joke. An enforcement officer can arrest you, you negotiate backdoor, and you are released. He has not been arrested as per the court order today; rather, he has produced himself. Canceling his bail would be incredibly harsh. It is our humble prayer that since the accused has appeared by himself, and this is his very first time missing a session, his reason holds water. That is my submission.”
The Magistrate sighed, rubbing his temples, and knocked his gavel lightly to preempt a shouting match.
“Let us remain professional and handle this in the best civil way,” the Magistrate ruled calmly. “With the assistance of your lawyers, you should respect the court schedules. Since he has produced himself today, the court will extend its mercy and maintain his bail. Let us proceed with the cross-examination.”
The Expert Under Fire
The focus shifted to the witness stand, where Mr. Kanene, a forensic expert witness, adjusted his glasses. The defense began a aggressive line of questioning, attempting to poke holes in the integrity of Kanene’s forensic report.
“What was the participation of Israel in your report?” the defense counsel demanded.
“He did not participate in anything,” the expert replied flatly.
“You were asked about the boardroom. Why didn’t you use it to conduct your business?”
“It was not necessary because of the urgency of the matter,” Kanene countered.
“While contacting Israel, which phone number did you use?”
“I used the one gazetted to me by the Uganda Police, since it is the official number.”
The State Prosecutor immediately jumped up. “Your Honor, I object! If we never cross-examined certain things like a gazetted number during the main examination, let us not go there now.”
The Magistrate nodded in agreement, but the defense quickly pivoted to another vulnerability in the paperwork.
“In your report on page eight, you said you corrected it by hand. Why?”
“Your Honor,” Kanene said, addressing the bench. “I found it fit to correct it by hand, and it is perfectly normal because the hand does not change the findings. You are supposed to summon and meet people from there while handling their matter, since the room is under 24/7 surveillance.”
“Are you allowed to provide services to private individuals?” the defense pressed, hinting at moonlighting.
The State Prosecutor interrupted loudly. “Your Honor, my questions during the cross examination was about the laboratory, not the individual person of Kanene! The defense should stop making this personal, I beg.”
The defense counsel ignored the flare-up and looked back at the witness. “Mr. Kanene, is the laboratory allowed to handle private business?”
“Yes,” the expert explained. “And it has to be paid for through the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA). But in this specific case, the request came from the court, which is also government. Therefore, the Director guided that we should carry on without them paying.”
The State Prosecutor saw an opening and stood up, holding a grievance of his own. “Your Honor, the witness failed to bring his official laboratory procedure documents as ordered. He should be stopped from saying another word about them.”
The Magistrate pointed a finger at the witness. “That’s right. He was given ample time to submit them, so he shouldn’t head into the procedures part at all. I tasked him to bring those procedures and he failed. It even forced me to adjourn last time.” The Magistrate looked over at the defense bench. “Humphrey, you were not around when that happened.”
The Hidden Forensic Database
As the defense continued its re-examination, the State Prosecutor repeatedly grew restless, leaping up to object.
“Your Honor, they can only re-examine from what is already on the record,” the prosecutor argued. “They are simply throwing in general questions, yet I was highly specific.”
“Re-examination is very restricted,” the Magistrate warned the defense. “Let us be guided strictly by the record. Only focus on the State’s questions, not the witness’s general answers.”
Despite the warning, the defense pushed forward, walking a thin line with leading questions, trying to draw out a critical piece of tech evidence.
“You said you found videos on the handset which were sent but deleted from the number ‘Mzee.’ Do you have them?” the defense lawyer asked.
“Yes,” Kanene said proudly. “I managed to extract them, and I can play them.”
The courtroom buzzed. The State Prosecutor looked blindsided. “With this trend, we are going to have to reopen cross-examination because they are simply bringing up brand new evidence!”
The core dilemma of the case had just landed on the table: the expert was claiming he could retrieve videos that Pastor Kayanja had allegedly sent and then deleted. However, the files were heavily blurred.
“These videos were deleted by the sender,” the expert asserted.
The defense counsel leaned in. “You were asked about the WhatsApp group which had a message saying that the next destination is Kavule. Who are the members of that group?”
Kanene looked down at his notes. “The numbers are 0751406503 labeled Mzee, 0776520015 labeled Enock 2, and 0772019987 labeled Fredo.”
“Clarify for the court, whose numbers are those?”
Kanene hesitated, looking up. “Your Honor, assist me with the report… First number is Robert Kayanja, Highway of Holiness Evangelical International Foundation Miracle Centre Cathedral Unlimited, and Frederick Kisitu.”
The defense counsel smiled, satisfied. “The defense team has nothing more to add.”
The Trap Snaps Shut
The State Prosecutor was already on his feet, eyes blazing.
“Your Honor, we have two urgent prayers in the interest of justice,” the prosecutor stated firmly. “The first is in relation to a new matter—specifically, the verbal facts introduced just now by the witness during re-examination. He stated that the specific videos he retrieved from the accused’s phone could not open because they were deleted by the sender. However, this information is not found anywhere in his written report! Secondly, the issue of *who* deleted them never arose during our cross-examination. We are seeking leave of court to put one major, further question to the witness, so that he can demonstrate to this court exactly how he established who deleted those videos.”
“We reject the prayer!” the defense shouted back. “When a new matter raises, you don’t wait for cross-examination to end to pray. Reopening this examination process will just be a back-and-forth, hence incredibly time-consuming. We pray that we close this and let this witness go.”
The Magistrate struck his gavel. “The State’s prayer seeking leave of court over a new matter to reopen cross-examination has been objected to by the defense team. However, the court rules that the State is granted leave for only that particular matter of deleted shared information by the sender. Proceed.”
The prosecutor stepped up to the witness stand, locking eyes with Kanene.
“Do you reflect on any of those deleted videos in your written report?”
“I mention information was deleted, but not videos,” Kanene admitted, his confidence dipping.
Prosecutor ;”Do you mention *who* deleted them?”
Kanene;”No, I don’t.”
Prosecutor; “On the fourth unnumbered page, did you also indicate deleted videos?”
Kanene”Yes.”
Prosecutor; “Do you mention any information there about Kayanja?”
Kanene; “No.”
Prosecutor; “In respect of what you listed in this report, all the videos received and deleted were from a user named Small Pin. Can you confirm that none came from Pastor Kayanja by your extraction report?”
Kanene; “No,”
Prosecutor; “Is it that the deleted videos you were talking about were shared on the WhatsApp group?”
Kanene; “Yes.”
Prosecutor;”If they are in a WhatsApp group chat, take us there right now and show us,” the prosecutor demanded, pointing at the forensic forensic machine.
Kanene ( shifted uncomfortably); “The videos were thrown in the group.”
Prosecutor; “So the videos were not sent to a particular person?”
Kanene “No, they were sent to all of them in the group.”
Prosecutor;”Did you find any videos sent by Mzee in that group that were deleted?”
Kanene; “No.”
Prosecutor; “You said you found videos on the gadget sent by Mzee. Let us go through them from the first to the very last one.”
Kanene( tapping on a his screen); “They were forwarded videos… not the original.”
The prosecutor stepped closer, delivering the final blow. “Now, show to this court right now that Mzee deleted that video which is failing to play.”
Silence fell over the courtroom. Kanene scrolled frantically on his device. He scratched his head endlessly, his face breaking out into a sweat. The minutes ticked by painfully.
Finally, Kanene looked up, defeated. “It… it shows it was not deleted by the sender, because the app doesn’t provide that database trace.”
A Question of Integrity
The prosecutor didn’t smile; he just drove the point home.
“Your Honor, our second prayer before the witness steps down. Arising during cross-examination, the witness was categorical about what he is allowed and not allowed to do in regards to external communication with third parties. We sought to examine him on the actual professional codes of his laboratory, and he failed to avail them to court. Yet, during re-examination, he was led to justify his actions of external communication as standard conduct.”
The prosecutor turned to face the entire courtroom. “The witness on the stand, Your Honor, is an expert witness whose weight of evidence has everything to do with not just his personal integrity, but also the integrity of the process. That duo of integrity is at the very core of assessing the credibility of this report. And the credibility of the report rests on whether it was done with standard laboratory protocols and strict observance of ethical conduct.”
He turned back to the Magistrate. “This court, at the close of this case, will be determined by two conflicting reports. What the witness has stated here could only be verifiable if the laboratory code of conduct standards were availed. So, there is nothing other than his bare words for this court to tell whether the witness told the truth or not.”
“In addition,” the prosecutor continued, “by his own standards, he also claimed he was authorized by his supervisor to engage a third party. For this court to justly resolve the contestation of whether there was a breach of integrity, the testimony of the supervisor is desperately needed to clear the air about this external communication authorization. Can court summon and hear from Mr. Angulo, the Head of Cyber, to confirm the words of Mr. Kanene? We pray that he should be called at the close of the defense.”
The Magistrate took down the final notes, the heavy wooden clock on the wall showing the late hour. He looked at both legal teams.
“Case adjourned to the 30th of June,” the Magistrate announced firmly. “I will give a formal ruling about this matter on that day, and then we will proceed directly to the next witness.”
Furthermore, it should be recalled that in 2022, Reagan Ssentongo and Khalifa Labib, both former workers at Pastor Kayanja’s farm in Kiryandongo, were sentenced to six years for aggravated robbery and assault. They are currently seeking bail at the Masindi High Court before Judge Issa Sserunkuuma.
It should be recalled that on May 6, 2025, the other accused, Moses Tumwine, also vanished. His mother, Tracy Namugga, who had stood surety for him, was subsequently remanded to Luzira Prison.
Tumwine is co-accused alongside Peter Serugo, Reagan Ssentongo, Khalifa Labeeb, Alex Wakamala, Martins Kagolo, Israel Wasswa, Jamil Mwanda, and Aggrey Kinene. They are facing charges of conspiring to defame Pastor Robert Kayanja and trespassing at Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral.
Furthermore, in 2022, Reagan Ssentongo and Khalifa Labib both former workers at Pastor Kayanja’s farm in Kiryandongo were sentenced to six years for aggravated robbery and assault. They are currently seeking bail at the Masindi High Court before Judge Issa Sserunkuuma.
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