Court Warns Pastor Ssenyonga’s Lawyers as Delay Tactics Stall Kayanja Blackmail Trial

Kampala — Mwanga II Magistrate Adams Byarugaba has dismissed what he termed as delaying tactics by the defence team in the ongoing case involving nine youths accused of blackmailing Pastor Robert Kayanja. The Magistrate has now issued a firm ultimatum for the extraction of data from a key suspect’s mobile phone, a process that has stalled the proceedings for weeks.

During a previous session, both the prosecution and defence agreed that an independent expert would extract information from suspect Reagan Ssentongo’s phone before he resumed testimony. However, when court reconvened on Tuesday, defence lawyers claimed that their chosen expert was unavailable— a submission the Magistrate rejected outright.

Magistrate Byarugaba directed defence counsel to immediately write to court, identifying the expert and specifying the data they want extracted. The court will then formally contact the expert and hand over the phone to ensure the process is completed before December 11.

“The expert, who becomes a witness, must show how the information was extracted without guidance from the suspect. This idea of influencing the expert is out of the window,” Magistrate Byarugaba ruled.

State Attorney Jonathan Muwaganya supported the directive, stressing that the extraction must be impartial.

“The expert is coming to interview the gadget, not the person. Any process where an interested party sits with the expert to decide what to extract would be fraudulent,” he noted.
“I don’t want to be present during the extraction, and neither should the accused guide the expert. That would undermine the entire process.”

The prosecution has repeatedly argued that the defence’s insistence on the phone data— and their recurring adjournment requests— are part of a larger scheme to delay the case.

Questions Raised Over Defence Strategy

Observers have questioned why the defence team is placing heavy emphasis on the phone evidence at this late stage, particularly when the accused did not submit such information during earlier police investigations, nor raise it when Pastor Kayanja himself testified and was cross-examined.

Tuesday’s court session also revealed inconsistencies in Ssentongo’s own testimony. He claimed he joined Pastor Kayanja’s security team in 2017 at age 13 and later underwent six months of police training in Masindi at age 14. However, documents presented in court—including forms carrying his fingerprints—indicate he was 19 at the time.

Accused Previously Convicted of Robbery

It also emerged that Ssentongo and co-accused Labib Khalifa are currently serving a six-year sentence handed down in 2022 for aggravated robbery and assault in Kigumba. The duo, former workers at Pastor Kayanja’s farm in Kiryandongo, were found guilty of attacking and pepper-spraying a man, and are now pursuing bail before Masindi High Court.

Their past convictions have cast further scrutiny on the credibility of their testimonies in the ongoing blackmail case.

Background to the Case

The nine accused— including Ssentongo, Sserugo, Labib Khalifa, Alex Wakamala, and Martin Kagolo— are charged with fabricating evidence, giving false information to police, and criminal trespass at Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral. Their testimonies—some of which have been contradictory— have increasingly come under question as the trial unfolds.

On Tuesday, Magistrate Byarugaba signalled that the court would no longer entertain unnecessary delays.

“Court time must be respected. The extraction process should start immediately so that the report is ready by December 11— or earlier,” he ordered.

The case resumes next month.