Sejusa warns of religious conflict as Gashumba’s pastor row deepens

Retired Gen David Sejusa has warned that ties between powerful pastors and political leaders could fuel religious conflict, arguing that Frank Gashumba’s miracle challenge has exposed deeper public resentment towards churches.

In a statement, Sejusa said the concern went beyond Gashumba’s Shs200 million offer. The public support for the challenge and angry responses from some pastors, he argued, pointed to frustration over church wealth, accountability and political protection.

“It was like a lit-match on petrol,” he wrote.

Gashumba challenged preachers who claim healing powers to demonstrate them on critically ill patients in Kampala hospitals. His offer sparked a public dispute over miracles and the treatment of vulnerable believers. 

Sejusa, a former coordinator of intelligence services, shifted the debate from proof of miracles to the relationship between religious authority, money and state power.

He accused some Pentecostal and Charismatic churches of operating as family businesses. He argued that their leaders pursue donations, land and protection through relationships with political elites.

His statement did not identify particular churches or provide evidence for his allegation that some had business arrangements with security organisations.

According to Sejusa, the prosperity gospel has moved sections of the church away from spiritual service towards commerce. He argued that believers could come to view pastors who enjoy state privileges as part of the same system they blame for their hardship.

“When the sacred aligns too closely with the sword, then, religion ceases to be useful to the oppressed,” he wrote.

Sejusa contrasted these churches with older Anglican and Catholic institutions, which he described as organisations that pooled contributions to build schools, run hospitals and support widows and orphans.

He drew on his family background, saying both his parents preached and his father served as a Church of Uganda canon.

His comparison formed part of his criticism of church governance. He argued that established administrative structures and shared funds offered a different model from ministries controlled by individual pastors and their families.

Sejusa also rejected the suggestion that miracles belong exclusively to pastors or churches. He cited biblical accounts and African traditions to argue that witnessing a miracle does not necessarily establish faith or religious authority.

He urged the government to stop what he described as the exploitation of poor worshippers. Failure to act, he warned, could deepen hostility towards religious leaders.

His central argument was that Gashumba’s challenge had found an audience because grievances already existed. Pastors who combine spiritual authority with wealth and political influence, he suggested, should examine that resentment.