Pastor Jackson Ssenyonga, the head of Christian Life Church in Makerere Kavule has come under fire from some pastors and members of Christian Revival Church Kawaala for his utterances against their deceased Pastor Augustine Yiga alias Abizzaayo.
The group has condemned Ssenyonga for attacking the deceased and asked him to apologize to his family and church members.
It all started on Tuesday when Ssenyonga convened a press conference shortly after Yiga’s death and condemned him as a false prophet who often took advantage of his female flock.
He also claimed that Yiga faked miracles, impregnated and infected many of his followers with HIV. There was tension between the two pastors who appeared to have been battling for supremacy. Onetime Yiga accused Ssenyonga of paying people to go to his church to show that he had a huge following.
However, Ssenyonga’s unkind comments about Yiga even after his death didn’t go down well with some pastors and his followers.
They described his attack on the deceased as disrespectful and contrary to the African tradition as well as church laws.
Pastor Mondo Mugisha of Empowerment Christian Center who visited Christian Revival Church Kawaala to console Yiga’s family has tasked Pastor Ssenyonga to apologize publicly to the deceased’s children and born-again Christians.
He says unless Ssenyonga apologizes, he will mobilize Christians and other Ugandans to shun him.
Pastor Aloysius Bujjingo of House of Prayer Ministries says it was unfortunate for the Pentecostal Church, for such a senior pastor, to celebrate the death of his fellow pastor which is against bible teachings.
“I can’t celebrate the death of a person even if he has been my enemy, at worst what he did was nothing but wickedness,” said Bujjingo.
Pastor Merry Kaizire of the Lord’s Covenant in Kanyanya also said that the manner in which Ssenyonga was speaking explains the level of hatred he had for Yiga. She argued that fighting someone even after death is ungodly and a shame to all pastors.
Members of Revival church who spoke to the media also condemned Ssenyonga’s utterances against their late pastor.
Stephen Mukwaya, a follower to Yiga asked Ssenyonga to come out and apologize saying his utterances are traumatizing to the bereaved family.
Rose Mumbejja, an artist in Rival Band which was started by Pastor Yiga dismissed Ssenyonga’s claims against their pastor as false.
Pastor Ssenyonga couldn’t be reached for comment as he neither picked nor returned calls from our reporter.
Whereas most religious leaders preach forgiveness, Pastor Augustine Yiga chose a controversial line, building his ministry on retribution.
This earned him the moniker Abizzaayo, literally meaning the one who casts people’s bad omens back to the source/sender.
No wonder when the news of Yiga’s death started circulating yesterday early morning, his Christian Revival Church in Kawaala, a Kampala suburb, was filled with mourners who did not mind about requirements of social distancing and wearing of masks to avoid spread of COVID-19.
Margaret Nakisozi, one of Yiga’s followers, said she first saw him in 2004 in a Kiwuunya, a slum in Nakulabye, Rubaga division.
“He has been a kind person who mentored us. I know that I was older than him but he took me in as a child and I called him daddy,” Nakisozi said.
Pastor Yiga’s business partner, Richard Kimbowa, said he had known him for the last five years. Kimbowa said ever since Yiga left prison in March over his reckless statements in regards to COVID-19, his health deteriorated.
Pastors Yiga’s body will be laid to rest at Revival church on Sunday this week.
