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Following an assassination attempt to his life last Tuesday, Pastor Aloysious Bugingo has been living in fear and shock to the extend that when he was leading Sunday’s church service, he couldn’t hold back his tears due to the pain of losing his bodyguard Richard Muhumuza who succumbed to the gunshots.
In the news circles a many know Simon Peter Kaswabuli as Deputy RDC Mbarara. But to those who know him, Kaswabuli is an old friend of Bugingo from the days when the flambouyant pastor was still hustling in Kisenyi surviving as a hawker. Over the years, Kaswabuli has been the head of security for all Bugingo’s events including the large crusades he conducts at Canaan land, Kololo Ceremonial grounds, Namboole stadium and in the upcountry.
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He’s the man through whom Bugingo would originally engage security agencies like police and UPDF to secure the deployment of hundred of officers and men to oversee security at such large prayer gatherings. Those who know him say that Bugingo is one man who generously facilitates work one he trusts you to do a good job. He likes to delegate and adequately facilitates those he has trusted with responsibility.
That’s how Kaswabuli (a former youth leader in the Catholic Church hailing from Busoga strategically got saved) has been picking hundreds of millions from Bugingo to facilitate such operations each time a large prayer event has been organized. The money is in billions because such has been Kaswabuli’s assignment under Pastor Bugingo for the last 13 years since he decamped from Pastor Sserwada’s Church in Ndeeda to start his own at Bat Valley before moving to Canaan land.
Besides becoming exposed to njawulo, Kaswabuli has been earning very handsomely from Bugingo in his official capacity as head security. He has been earning Shs15m per month as a retainer for the less than 40 men he has been keeping deployed 24/7 to secure Bugingo’s and worshipers’ interests both at Canaan and Salt media offices in Lungujja.
Not very long time ago, Kaswabuli became better and organized by incorporating a security company called ECCOS Security Services Ltd who services have since been terminated by Bugingo for reasons that will exclusively be elaborated in this story.
The company was also permitted to have several pistols/firearms after Kaswabuli contacted the office of Minister of Internal affairs seeking authorization to acquire fire arms. This was presented as a request by HPMI Church leadership desiring to secure or protest their pastors whereas not. On getting the fire arms, Kaswabuli controversially deployed the same under his company and never informed Bugingo that an application for the same had been lodged under the church’s name
Few years ago, Kaswabuli (who has been having an office at Canaan for security coordination purposes) desired to get a government job ostensibly to grow his connections and CV. Leveraging on the fact that he was a well known errands boy for Bugingo he easily got himself on the list of new RDCs and was first deplyoed in Kasanda where he served as Deputy RDC before getting transferred
Even after becoming RDC, he would rarely be at the government station upcountry because of the obviously demanding schedule at the Bugingo premises which earned him a cool Shs15m per month (this excluding the kickbacks earned off the big prayer events like Vision and independence nights which draw hundreds of thousands of people at Canaan land every 31st December and8th October on the day preceding national independence day celebrations).
Then very recently, Bugingo became suspicious after getting reports that Kaswabuli was working with his [Bugingo’s] enemies (determined to use his estranged wife Teddy) to undermine his interests some way. Bugingo summoned Kaswabuli and confronted him about this apparent betrayal.
In the encounter however, Kaswabuli (who has amassed a lot of wealth off the Bugingo errands in the last 13 years) vigorously pushed back and fearlessly told off the pastor whom had been advised to watch his back. This was after a one Dennis Mukulu previously serving as Church Administrator got fired and replaced by a one Wasswa after Bugingo realized he was another double agent undermining him from within and giving away sensitive information about House of prayer and Salt media operations.
It turned out, that all along unknown to Bugingo, Mukulu had been very close to Kaswabuli to the extent that he was even a shareholder and co-owner in the security company. The duo had for sometime been hostile to the slain driver/bodyguard Corporal Richard Muhumuza imagining he was the one inciting Pastor Bugingo against them about inflated costs related to security and large prayer events’ management errands.
Then fast forward: when pastor Bugingo was shot at last Tuesday, Kaswabuli acted in a way that has circumstantially since caused security to pick interest in him. He for instance was the first person to arrive in Mulago where Bugingo was being treated for his gunshot wounds and at the mortuary where Muhumuza’s bullet riddled body was being managed from.
But again Kaswabuli wasn’t among the people Bugingo rang first and the investigating officers, before who Bugingo has already recorded statements to aid ongoing investigations, are surprised as to how he got to know about the shooting. The other curious thing relates to the fact that Kaswabuli using his connections and relationships with the police leadership at both Wandegeya and Kawempe police stations, stormed Wandegeya police and was permitted to drive away Bugingo’s bullet-riddled vehicle and relocated it to Naguru headquarters
Kaswabuli did this without authorization from Bugingo or any of the family members or leaders at the church. Investigators are curious to know why Kaswabuli, who isn’t a police officer or investigator had the guts to do all this even when it had already become clear to a lot of people at Canaan that his relationship with the popular pastor had already become strained.
The same Kaswabuli removed Bugingo’s belongings and delivered them to the man of God’s residence at Namayumba in Wakiso district without being instructed by any one.
He has since been interrogated and questioned by CMI investigators after being herded into the CMI complex in Mbuya where he was grilled for much of the evening only to be released late in the night to go back home but his phones were confiscated for further scrutiny and are yet to be returned to him.
Kaswabuli was also quizzed about the five pistols that were secured with permission of the Internal affairs ministry ostensibly on behalf of the HPMI yet the Church leadership never authorized or instructed him to do so. The firearms were instead deployed to facilitate the work of his private company ECCOZ security services ltd.
And in a related development, Bugingo has since written to Kaswabuli announcing termination of all security services his company has been rendering. In the two page letter, copied to the IGP, CMI chief and the president, Bugingo thanks Kaswabuli for the years he has served as head of security for his establishments but requests to ease out on grounds he has been advised by both UPDF and Police to get him out to enable the UPDF take effective charge and control of the same at Canaan, Lungujja and the pastor’s residences.
This publication has since established that he was yesterday Monday evening compelled by both UPDF and Uganda police office deployed at Canaan to receive the Bugingo termination letter after which he removed all his belongings (including firearms for his company) from the office premises Bugingo had allocated him at Canaan land.
Bugingo who is determined to part ways with Kaswabuli is prepared to pay off for whatever might be pending regarding the security services his company been offering. In the same letter, the pastor makes it clear that Kaswabuli equally ceases to be head of security at both the church and media organization premises in Lungujja because his RDC job makes him too busy to be available to have sufficient time to serve at both Canaan land and the Salt media base in Lungujja.
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