Celebrated Kampala preacher man Grace Lubega, who three years ago started probably the biggest weekly Christian meeting in Uganda has come out to refute claims that he manipulates and shames members of his congregation into doing what he tells them to do, including fornication, students writing examinations in in tongues, HIV+ men shunning medication and tithing 10 percent of their income to the church.
Lubega’s Phaneroo Ministries International has released an official statement setting the record straight.
They said they think rivals were paying people to give false witness and to openly threatening the members who attend or serve in various capacities of Phaneroo instead of appreciating Phaneroo for helping young men and women to forsake drug and substance abuse, promiscuity and criminality among others.
They claim that the ‘allegations levelled against the ministry are untrue and based on rumours and misrepresentations being peddling by envious leaders of rival churches’ to discredit Phaneroo’s image.
“Phaneroo Ministries has been continuously targeted through planned campaigns based on countless accusations that are lacking in proof, very deliberate falsehoods, and calculated misrepresentations,” part of the statement stated, adding, “The architects of these campaigns are individuals that we greatly respected and honoured for their highly placed stations in the religious circles. Some of whom we tried to reach out to in the spirit of walking in love to sort these matters as Christians. To our dismay, they denied us audience.”
The youthful church claims that this character assassination, maligning and reputational damage has been done throughthe writing of widely distributed anti-Phaneroo circulars, social media attacks, holding anti-Phaneroo conferences, sponsoring books and DVD teachings solely against the ministry.
“We wrote for the sake of those with the integrity of spirit to judge out of truth and not mere rumour,” Phaneroo added.
In the end, only a court of law may determine the truth.
