Singer Elijah Kitaka seeks to share traumatic church experience in live debate with Kayanja’s son

Singer Elijah Kitaka says he wants in on the raging public discourse around Ugandan pastors and miracles, challenging Robert Kayanja Jr to a one-on-one TikTok Live debate

Kitaka issued the challenge on October 16, tagging Kayanja Jr and asking media personality Kasuku to host the stream.

“I want a TikTok live one on one with you but accept at your own risk. I will be waiting for your confirmation,” Kitaka wrote.

Kasuku later responded that he was ready to host the discussion, but Kayanja Jr had not publicly accepted the invitation by publication time.

Kitaka’s interest in the debate would be rooted in his own upbringing.

The Swangz Avenue singer, whose full name is Elijah Nsubuga Kitaka, grew up in a deeply religious home. 

His father was a pastor and bass guitarist, while his mother sang in a church choir. He started playing drums in church at about seven years old before building a career as a session musician and, later, a recording artist. 

His family also had links to Pastor Robert Kayanja’s Miracle Centre Cathedral. Kitaka’s father was among the early disciples of Pastor Kayanja and later became a lead pastor in his own right. 

Kitaka has previously spoken openly about the emotional toll of that upbringing.

During a Tusker Malt Conversessions interview in April 2025, he said church had initially given him a strong foundation in music and spirituality, but that he later became troubled by what he saw behind the scenes.

“I left because I saw holes,” he said in that interview. “I saw some things that broke my heart. I started asking questions, but no one had answers.” 

He also said the more he grew up around church structures, the more traumatised he became.

Other accounts of the same interview say Kitaka felt spiritually lost and alienated, while music became an emotional refuge during periods of estrangement from his family. 

Kitaka has also described the strictness of his religious upbringing.

In one interview, he said his parents initially struggled to accept his decision to pursue music and fashion. He said he had to distance himself from them for a period while trying to build his own identity. 

He has also strongly criticised what he saw as contradictions in some church environments, including rules around appearance and lifestyle that, in his view, were not applied consistently. 

His proposed debate with Kayanja Jr comes as the Kayanja family remains locked in a public confrontation with Frank Gashumba and his daughter Sheilah Gashumba over miracle claims, church finances and the conduct of pastors.

That feud began after Frank challenged pastors who claim supernatural healing powers to demonstrate them in a hospital, initially putting up Shs200 million and later raising the offer to Shs500 million.

Pastor Robert Kayanja responded by defending miracle claims associated with his ministry, while the dispute later escalated into personal exchanges involving Sheilah and Kayanja Jr.