39 Christian ’cult’ members in Uganda prison for uncultured behaviour

Kyebando, Uganda - 39 members of a cult called ’End time Gospel’ based in central Uganda, currently in remand prison for holding unlawful assembly and behaving in uncultured manner, have requested the international community to come to their rescue.

The 39 members were arrested on April 25th from Kyebando village 50 kms west of Uganda’s capital, Kampala. By the time of the arrest they were conducting door to door crusades at members’ homes.

Area chief magistrate, Jessy Byaruhanga, on Wednseday remanded them until May 10 when their case will come up for mention.

One of the leaders of the cult, James Babalanda said that the arrest was politically motivated.

"There are some politicians who led to our arrest because we tell our members not to get involved in politics to vote corrupt officials. We are being persecuted over nothing. We appeal to the international community to come to our rescue," Babalanda said.

But a security officer in the area where they were arrested, George Nvule, said that the cult members behave in ways that may endanger their lives and that of others.

According to Nvule: "The members of the cult have no established church. Members of the cult do not eat cooked food and eat only raw food. They do not own property. They do not go to hospital when they fall sick. What kind of people are those?’’

He refuted allegations that government is persecuting members of the cult.