Pastor "Kiwedde" in court today
Apr 19, 2012
Pastor William Muwanguzi (Kiwedde) will today be charged in Court to answer charges of terrorism, illegal possession of firearms and assaulting a Police officer on duty.
By Anne Mugisa and Simon Masaba
Pastor William Muwanguzi (Kiwedde) will today be charged in Court to answer charges of terrorism, illegal possession of firearms and assaulting a Police officer on duty.
Muwanguzi who changed his name to Paul Mwamba had been in hiding in Kenya since 2010, according to Police. He has opened a church in Eldoret which he has since been operating.
Meanwhile, different Christian religious leaders said yesterday that they were suspicious about Muwanguzi's motive for his name change, though he was free to do so.
They said that a name has nothing to do with Christianity and the law allows people who wish to change their names. They said, however, that while some people have good reasons for changing their names, others do it to disguise their dubious lives and that Muwanguzi had been implicated in questionable behaviour.
Several Pastors of the different Pentecostal churches said yesterday Muwanguzi the different scandals he has been involved in could have prompted his action to runaway from that reputation.
Pastor Alex Mitala, chairperson of the National Fellowship of born again churches said that the fellowship does not acknowledge Muwanguzi.
"We denounced him many years ago. You remember that time when he was calling himself Kiwedde. He is not a member of our churches and I cannot talk about him… But the Constitution allows him to have his religion," Mitala said.
Apostle Semakula Gyagenda, an aide to Pastor Joseph Sserwadda said that Muwanguzi has been known for fraudulent dealings and therefore his move is hardly surprising.
"Muwanguzi is changing because of his character. If he is okay with himself why change his name? His problem is the character," he said. He added that another Pastor in Mukono had to change his name from Muwanguzi to Kutesa because of the notoriety that Kiwedde had given it.
Asked whether a Christian would be required to undergo another Baptism for change of name, religious leaders said "No". Rev. Diana Nkesiga, the Vicar of All Saints Cathedral at Nakasero said names are simply tags and are not about Baptism.
She also explained though that if one changes a name, assuming it is not for dubious reason, their church will still keep the old record and only attach the affidavit to their file, showing that from a certain date someone changed the name. She said that the Church member must hand in their baptism certificate for the church to check to ensure that the correct record is entered.
According to the Police, intelligence reports indicated that before he fled the country Kiwedde had been posing as a UPDF Major under the name Musinguzi. They also said he used to aid suspects escape from police custody.