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President Yoweri Museveni is expected this weekend to officially open Pastor Samuel Kakande’s new mega-church, located in Mulago Kampala.
The Temple Mount Church of All Nations will be unveiled amid fanfare, with thousands of Christians from Uganda and other parts of Africa expected in attendance.
State House officials have confirmed the president will grace the launch on Saturday, December 15.
The ultramodern multi-storied building has been constructed largely through contributions from the church members.
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Donation drive
Pastor Kakande ran an aggressive campaign for donations from church-goers and supporters, that often attracted criticism from sections of the public.
Church members were called to give periodic cash contributions while others were encouraged to bring in physical materials including truckloads of cement, steel bars and concrete.
A lot of the construction work and the donation drive were done during the COVID-19 pandemic when most families were under financial stress, which exacerbated the public scrutiny of the project.
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Church collapses
Around this time, in October 2021, the project suffered a setback when part of the church collapsed and injured three people.
The police temporarily shut down the construction to carry out investigations.
'Man among boys'
Pastor Kakande’s new church, which stands as the biggest in the country, is anticipated to fuel the prevailing inter-church feuding especially in the born-again faith.
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Kakande in one of his sermons, said the church would serve to “differentiate between boys and men,” referring to other city pastors who have often attacked him publicly.
“From this building, you will be able to tell the boys from the men,” he said.
"Somebody may stand and abuse us, but now we can see who are the men among the boys. Don't mind those boys. They are just boys.”