PR. SSENYONGA SUFFERS SETBACK AS KEY WITNESS FAILS TO TESTIFY IN KAYANJA CASE

By Our Reporter

Pastor Jackson Ssenyonga was left reeling after a key expert witness from Makerere University declined to testify for the defence in the high-profile case involving Pastor Robert Kayanja.

Ssenyonga, through his legal team led by Counsel Robert Ojambo, had lined up a linguistics expert from Makerere to testify as a defence witness in the case of nine suspects accused of trespass at Lubaga Miracle Centre, conspiracy to commit a felony and giving false information.

The expert was expected to give an opinion on the audio and video evidence on a flash disk that the defence tendered on May 2 and July 17, 2025. However, the witness did not turn up.

With no option left, Ssenyonga's lawyers were forced to close their defence case, telling court that they suspected the witness had been compromised.

In another blow on Monday, court rejected Ssenyonga's attempt to replace the Makerere expert with a handpicked expert from UBC.

Sources say Ssenyonga immediately convened a crisis meeting with his team to strategize on how to salvage the situation as the case draws to a close.

It will be recalled that last week, Ssenyonga allegedly deployed TikTok bloggers including Olivia Kateme and Mark Kigozi to circulate false claims that the case had already ended and that Kayanja had lost claims that were proved to be untrue as court is yet to deliver judgment.

The matter was adjourned to December 9, 2026, for final submissions.

It has emerged that some of the nine youths who accused Pastor Robert Kayanja of sodomy told court that they were acting under a scheme allegedly orchestrated by Pastor Jackson Ssenyonga, who promised them heaven on earth if they would frame Kayanja.

One of the youths, Adrian Ssebbaale, testified that in a desperate attempt to convince Ssenyonga that they had indeed been sodomized, they went to the extent of slaughtering a chicken and smearing its blood on toilet tissue which they sent to Ssenyonga as proof that the blood was coming from the anus after being sodomized.

Ssebbaale told court that in 2023, Ssenyonga promised each of them Shs. 5 million if they executed the plot. When they failed to deliver tangible evidence, Ssenyonga allegedly told them he would give them 20,000 US Dollars each, take them to Europe and connect them to the First Lady, assuring them that they would never see suffering again. He said on the day he dismissed them, Ssenyonga gave each of them Shs. 100,000 for transport.

Upon returning home, Ssebbaale said they started scheming on how to get a video showing they had been sodomized, and they hatched a plan to slaughter a chicken, collect its blood on tissue paper, while Ssebbaale recorded a video pretending to be bleeding. The video was sent to Ssenyonga, but he rejected it, insisting he wanted one where Kayanja himself is seen doing the act.