By Ismael Kasooha

WESTERN religion is being used to colonise Africa, Owobusobozi Desteo Bisaka, a cult leader in Uganda’s south-western district of Kibaale, has said.

“How can we boast of independence when we still cherish religions brought by foreigners? We are now shunning our indigenous religions, considering them to be Satanic,” Bisaka said.

He said Africans must cherish religions that arose from their own cultures, as it was before the colonial era.

He made the remarks on Saturday at Kagadi Freedom Square at a function to thank the National Resistance Movement Government for respecting freedom of worship in the country.

He added that Africans have a long way to go in understanding that God is not white-skinned, and that it is not only white people who are holy.

Bisaka and his believers, clad in white clothes, also thanked the Government for freedom of speech and association.
“We must thank President (Yoweri) Museveni and his government for the favourable environment and laws in the country,” Bisaka said.

He founded his Faith of Unity church, in the early 1980s. Bisaka is the son of a leading Roman Catholic catechist, Petero Byombi.

Born in 1930 at Kitoma–Kibizi in Kibaale district, Bisaka set his heart on being a Catholic priest in his youth. But this did not come to pass. The former Grade III teacher claims he heard a voice from God urging him to preach ‘oneness.’

He tuned his back on the Roman Catholic Church and the Bible. He wrote his own book, the basis of the faith. Bisaka claims the Bible brings about division, noting the numerous religions that use the holy book.

Bisaka’s disciples, led by the ‘Abakwenda’ (his prophets), thanked him for initiating the church.
They gave him a car valued at sh106m.
The function drew thousands of Bisaka followers from within Uganda and Canada.