Prophet who said world would end by 1999 dies

Feb 21, 2014

A self-styled prophet who predicted that the world would come to an end by the year 1999 has died aged 56.

By Frederick Kiwanuka

A self-styled prophet who predicted that the world would come to an end by the year 1999 has died.

Wilson Bushara, based in Nakaseke, breathed his last on Friday morning at a health facility. He raised eyebrows 15 years ago when he prophesied that the world would be no more before the new millennium.

His cult, called World Message Last Warning Church, based in Bukoto village in Nakaseke, was banned.

The 56-year-old seer died at Kiwoko Missionary Hospital where he had been admitted for three weeks. He is reported to have battled with high blood pressure.

Nakaseke District police commander, Edward Kyaligonza, said the prophet was living lavishly on the charity of his followers.

Bushara, a ghee peddler-turned-prophet, said the world would end in September 1999, but as the month approached, he came out to change his statement.
 
He clarified that he had meant his ministry, and not the world, would end.

Scores of his followers thronged Kiwoko Hospital and his resident in Bukoto village on Friday when news of his death spread.

Born in 1958 in Muyenje village, Kiboga district, Bushara used to say he got a vision in 1996.

In September 1999, his over 1,000 followers were dispersed by Police and their makeshift camp destroyed.

Then wanted by Police, Bushara managed to evade arrest during the operation. He was later apprehended while on the run in Busoga over charges of holding an illegal assembly and defilement.

He was later cleared of the charges and returned to his home in Bukoto – a magnificent structure, the only one of its kind in that remote part of Nakaseke.

Before his death, Bushara made several appeals to the authorities to lift the ban imposed on his church to no avail.

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