KAYANJA CASE REACHES FINAL STAGE AS COURT SETS DECEMBER 9 FOR FINAL SUBMISSIONS.

By PETER SSUUNA

The case of the nine youths accused of defaming Pastor Robert Kayanja of Miracle Centre Cathedral, Lubaga, has reached its final stage, with both sides now expected to file their final submissions before judgment is delivered.

This came after the defence decided to abandon a witness they had wanted to call, saying his continued involvement could jeopardize the way their case had been progressing.

Led by lawyer Bernard Mugenyi, the defence had earlier sought to add an 11th witness to the 10 they had already presented, but State Prosecutor Jonathan Muwaganya objected.

Appearing before Magistrate Adams Byarugaba at Nateete-Lubaga Court in Mengo, Mugenyi said they wanted to bring in a witness who had worked on transcribing audio and video recordings from UBC. However, the prosecution insisted that the witness must be from Makerere University, since that is who the defence had initially listed when they disclosed their witnesses.

In the previous session, there was a heated exchange as both sides tussled over who should be brought to court, leaving the matter to the magistrate to decide.

In his ruling, Magistrate Byarugaba ordered that the witness from Makerere University be the one to testify, but the defence appeared dissatisfied with the decision.

Lawyer Mugenyi told court that they had tried to get the Makerere witness but failed, and therefore the team had decided to abandon him and proceed with only those who had already testified, and applied to close their defence case.

The prosecution agreed with the defence decision, and both parties in open court agreed on dates for filing written submissions.

The magistrate set December 9, 2026, as the date for filing final submissions, and on that day, a judgment date will be fixed.

The nine accused Reagan Ssentongo, Peter Sserugo, Alex Wakamala, Labeeb Kalifah, Moses Tumwine, Martin Kagolo, Agrey Kanene, Israel Wasswa and Jamir Mwanda — are accused of invading Pastor Kayanja’s church on September 17, 2021, and falsely accusing him of sodomizing them.