Benny Hinn's brother accused of extramarital affair

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-benny-hinn-brother-affair-20130121,0,4344906.story

By Jeff Kunerth, Orlando Sentinel

5:23 p.m. EST, January 21, 2013

Sanford Pastor Sam Hinn engaged in a four-year love affair with a member of his congregation before being confronted by his wife and church officials, prompting him to step away from the pulpit, according to the woman's family.

Chantel Wonder said Hinn, the younger brother of televangelist Benny Hinn, initiated the affair with her mother by telling her they were "soul mates" and that God approved of the relationship.

"He put her in a position that this is OK because it's what God wants. He was using God to justify it," said Wonder, 28, of St. Petersburg.

Hinn, 51, founded The Gathering Place Worship Center in 1996, about five years before Wonder's family joined.

Messages left on Hinn's home phone were not returned. Church officials responded to requests for comment with a copy of the letter Hinn wrote to his congregation, which says:

"As painful as this is to confess, I have allowed myself to be drawn into a relationship that has caused much hurt and pain to my wife and family. I have repented and asked for and received their forgiveness."

Wonder said her father became aware of the affair in December 2008 after he found text and voice messages from Hinn on his wife's phone. At the time, his wife denied the affair. The couple, who were married June 20, 1980, divorced on Feb. 14, 2012.

Wonder said Hinn, who is married and has four children, continued the affair after her parents divorced. She said church officials confronted Hinn with evidence of the affair in December 2012, but he refused to admit he was involved with the woman.

On Jan. 14, Hinn denied the allegations of an affair to his wife, but promised not to talk to the woman again, Wonder said. Later the same day, she said, Hinn's car was photographed parked outside her mother's apartment.

On Wednesday, church officials read Hinn's letter to the congregation, in which he says, "…I am taking a leave of absence from any and all ministry so I can focus my full energy on both my walk with God and restoration in my family."

Church officials also released a statement that the board has initiated a restoration process for Hinn that involves the counsel of Ron Johnson, pastor of One Church in Longwood.

"This process includes Pastoral and Professional Counseling, as well as a mandatory time out of ministry so that all factures in both his personal and family life may be healed," the statement says.

Chantel Wonder said this isn't enough.

"He'll be back in a couple of months as senior pastor, and that's just not right," said Wonder, who fears the church will shift all the blame on her mother.

Wonder said both her parents were involved in church activities. Her father was an usher and both were engaged in Bible study.

Her mother, who works as a hairstylist, eventually become the stylist for Hinn's family, including his wife and children, Wonder said.

Hinn is the latest in a series of high-profile pastors of large nondenominational churches in Central Florida who have become embroiled in extramarital affairs. In November, Isaac Hunter, son of megapastor Joel Hunter, stepped down from the Orlando church he founded, Summit Church, after admitting to an affair with a staff member.

New Destiny Christian Center pastor Zachery Tims left his Apopka church for a time after getting caught in an extramarital affair around 2009. Tims returned to the church, but died suddenly of causes still not disclosed in a New York City hotel room in August 2011.

In all three cases, the churches were creations of their dynamic lead pastors. Experts in church dynamics say when churches lose their founding pastors, it often creates a crisis of direction and confidence, even when they return.

 Pastor Sam Hinn

Pastor and Author Sam Hinn Steps Down From Pulpit

http://www.charismanews.com/us/35331-pastor-and-author-sam-hinn-steps-down-from-pulpit

2:00PM EST 1/22/2013 Elizabeth Sanchez

Sam Hinn has stepped down as pastor of the Gathering Place Worship Center in Sanford, Fla., the church he founded in 1996. The 51-year-old pastor took the action to begin a restoration process as the result of "being drawn into a relationship that has caused much pain."

Hinn is the younger brother of Evangelist Benny Hinn, under whom he served when the elder Hinn pastored World Outreach Center in nearby Orlando for 14 years.

The Gathering Place Worship Center holds two morning services attended by about 300 people each, plus a small Arabic service on Sunday afternoon, The Orlando Sentinel reported Sunday.

A letter from Pastor Hinn, read at the Wednesday night service January 16, did not state his reason for stepping down but said, "I take full responsibility for the place we now find ourselves. As painful as this is to confess, I have allowed myself to be drawn into a relationship that has caused much hurt and pain to my wife and family. I have repented and asked for and received their forgiveness. Scripture states that I must bring forth the fruit of repentance if I expect to be restored..."

The statement was also read to the congregation on Sunday. To read the entire statement, click here.

The Gathering Place's board said it is "deeply saddened" by the recent news but pointed to Galatians 6:1 as a guideline for restoration: "Pastor Sam Hinn has been relieved of all ministry responsibilities and as the official board, we have outlined a restoration process. This process includes pastoral and professional counseling, as well as a mandatory time out of ministry so that all fractures in both his personal and family life may be healed." Click here to read the entire statement.

Pastor Ron Johnson, of One Church (Assembly of God) in nearby Longwood, was asked by the church board to oversee the restoration process. Johnson appointed Theo Koulianos, a member of The Gathering Place's pastoral staff, to fill the pulpit.

The Gathering Place is known locally for its lively concert-style worship. It attracts many young people and has a large Hispanic segment among the congregation. Because Hinn was born in Israel and because his mother, who was a part of the church spoke Arabic, the church has held an Arabic service for many years. The Gathering Place describes itself as a church about “family, worship and the presence of God.”

Hinn is the author of two books: Kissing the Face of God and Changed in His Presence. He and his wife Erika have been married for more than 25 years and have four children.

Hinn had also served as an interim pastor at Heartland Church in Dallas, Texas of time while its founding pastor Steve Hill was battling cancer. Hill has now returned to the pulpit.

"He was a blessing in my absence," Hill told Charisma News. "We read the letter to our church on Sunday and prayed for Pastor Sam, The Gathering Place, and the Hinn family. There is nothing but love and appreciation coming from Heartland. I love him and believe the Lord will totally restore."

Pastor Sam Hinn Speaks Out on 'Relationship That Has Caused Much Hurt' to Family

http://www.charismanews.com/us/35325-pastor-sam-hinn-speaks-out-on-relationship-that-has-caused-much-hurt-to-family

9:47AM EST 1/22/2013

Here is the statement from Sam Hinn that was read to the congregation of The Gathering Place Worship Center on Sunday, Jan. 20:

"After much soul searching I have come to the understanding that I need to take a break from the ministry. Erika and I have been aware, for some time, that there have been fractures developing in our marriage that must be addressed.

"Although neither Erika nor I have ever claimed perfection, this morning I take full responsibility for the place we now find ourselves. As painful as this is to confess, I have allowed myself to be drawn into a relationship that has caused much hurt and pain to my wife and family. I have repented and asked for and received their forgiveness.

"The Scripture states that I must bring fort the fruit of repentance if I expect to be restored; therefore, I have submitted myself to leadership of this Church and the Apostolic covering of Pastor Ron Johnson of One Church.

"Therefore, I am taking a leave of absence from any and all ministry so I can focus my full energy on both my walk with God and restoration in my family.

"TGP, I love you all very much and apologize for hurting you. I ask that you please pray for my family during this difficult season and I ask you to stand with us as we take this much needed time to heal.

"With the support of my family and help of those around me, it is my full intention to be fully restored and return to my responsibilities as your pastor, as soon as the Lord permits.

"Please respect the privacy of our family during this difficult time."

Book publisher says televangelist Benny Hinn violated morality clause

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/os-benny-hinn-book-suit-20110217,0,3978261.story

Strang Communications wants $250,000.

By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel

5:58 p.m. EST, February 17, 2011

SANFORD - A Lake Mary book publisher is suing televangelist and faith healer Benny Hinn, saying he violated a morality clause in their contract when he began an "inappropriate relationship" with another evangelist, and thus, must pay $250,000.

In August, Hinn admitted to a friendship with evangelist Paula White after The National Enquirer published photos of them in Rome, holding hands.

Hinn was married at the time. His wife, Suzanne, had filed for divorce a few months earlier.

Three years earlier, Hinn had signed a three-book deal with Strang Communications Co. of Lake Mary. He was paid a $300,000 advance on the first one, "Blood in the Sand," according to the suit.

Hinn acknowledged to his publisher "his inappropriate relationship" with White in August, according to the suit, and agreed that the publisher should get back its money, but he has yet to pay up.

Hinn's lawyer, Miles Archer Woodlief of Mill Valley, Calif., did not return a phone call Thursday.

In a letter attached to the suit, Strang also accused Hinn of violated the contract by failing to work hard enough to market "Blood in the Sand".

He failed to make television appearances to promote it, including several on "700 Club", wrote Strang attorney Chris Vlahos.

The suit was filed Tuesday in state circuit court.

Hinn lives in suburban Los Angeles. He moved there in 1999 after building a national audience at his faith-healing center, World Outreach Center on Forest City Road in Orlando, where he preached for 14 years.


 ALSO SEE

Fooling Christians - The Debacles of Benny Hinn and Paula White

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2010/08/fooling-christians-debacles-of-benny.html

 

BENNY HINN AND PAULA WHITE RESPOND TO “FALSE AND MISLEADING” NEWS

http://apprising.org/2010/07/24/reports-of-benny-hinn-and-paula-white-affair-pictures-included/

 *UPDATED* BENNY HINN AND PAULA WHITE RESPOND TO “FALSE AND MISLEADING” NEWS

STATEMENT BY BENNY HINN CONCERNING PAULA WHITE DISAPPEARS

PAULA WHITE RESPONSE CONCERNING BENNY HINN DISAPPEARS

BENNY HINN AND PAULA WHITE SIDE BY SIDE

BENNY HINN AND PAULA WHITE INVOLVED?

PAULA WHITE HAWKS HER UPCOMING SUPER CONFERENCE WITH HERETICS-Я-US

Victims of child sexual abuse by US Catholic church demand justice

 Cardinal Roger Mahony and other top Roman Catholic officials from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles worked behind the scenes to protect priests involved in sexual abuse of children. (File photo)

FIRST READ:

L.A. catholic church leaders sought to hide sex abuse cases from authorities

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2013/01/la-catholic-church-leaders-sought-to.html

Victims of child sexual abuse by US Catholic church demand justice

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/01/23/285107/victims-of-us-priest-abuse-urge-justice/

 Wednesday Jan 23, 201310:27 AM GMT

Reports of newly released files showing concerted efforts by a major US Catholic church to conceal child abuse by its priests has prompted fresh demands from victims to bring church officials to justice.

Despite numerous calls over the past decade to bring the church’s top leader Cardinal Roger Mahony and his top deputies to criminal prosecution for actively trying to hide sexual abuse of children by its clergy, none of the several legal efforts on such cases resulted in “charges against he archdiocese’s hierarchy,” The Los Angeles Times reports Wednesday.

“At least three grand juries, two district attorneys and a US attorney have subpoenaed documents and summoned witnesses,” the report emphasizes, adding that all the legal measures failed to win conviction for officials of the California church.

While the Los Angeles County district attorney vowed to review and evaluate all of the newly-revealed documents “for criminal conduct,” the daily cites “legal experts” as insisting that the massive quantity of files “were unlikely to lead to charges, let alone convictions.”

“A nearly insurmountable barrier,” the report adds quoting experts, “is the statute of limitations.”

The paper reported Tuesday that nearly 25 years have passed since Mahony and his top aide for sex abuse cases, Thomas Curry, wrote memos “outlining strategies to prevent police investigations of three priests who had admitted abusing boys.”

One such case involved a priest named Peter Garcia, who had admitted to “preying for decades on undocumented children in predominantly Spanish-speaking parishes.”

Citing the newly released files, the report further noted that following Garcia's release from “a New Mexico treatment center for pedophile clergy,” Mahony ordered him to keep his distance from California "for the foreseeable future" in a bid to evade “legal accountability.”

"I believe that if Monsignor Garcia were to reappear here within the archdiocese we might very well have some type of legal action filed in both the criminal and civil sectors," the archbishop was quoted as writing to the treatment center's director in July 1986.

Garcia returned to California later that year although the archdiocese did not give him ministerial duty since he “refused to take medication to suppress his sexual urges,” according to church documents cited in the report.

It adds that Garcia was never prosecuted and died in 2009.

The files, however, show that he admitted to a therapist that he had sexually abused boys "on and off" since his 1966 ordination.

“He assured church officials his victims were unlikely to come forward because of their immigration status. In at least one case, according to a church memo, he threatened to have a boy he had raped deported if he went to police,” the report further said.

According to the daily, an attorney for the Catholic church, Michael Hennigan, described the newly unveiled documents as “part of the past,” claiming that the church’s policy in the late 1980’s was to let the families of the victims decide whether to contact the police or not.

The daily further stated that in the coming weeks, personnel files of 75 other Los Angeles area Catholic priests will be released as part of a 2007 civil settlement with 500 abuse victims.

L.A. catholic church leaders sought to hide sex abuse cases from authorities

Cardinal Roger Mahony, seen at a 2007 trial of a case involving sexual abuse by priests, wrote memos in 1986 and 1987 that offer the strongest evidence yet of a concerted effort by archdiocese officials to shield abusers from police. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times / July 16, 2007)

L.A. church leaders sought to hide sex abuse cases from authorities

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-church-files-20130122,0,3114631.story

Documents from the late 1980s show that Archbishop Roger M. Mahony and another archdiocese official discussed strategies to keep police from discovering that children were being sexually abused by priests.

By Victoria Kim, Ashley Powers and Harriet Ryan, Los Angeles Times

January 21, 2013, 2:31 p.m.

Fifteen years before the clergy sex abuse scandal came to light, Archbishop Roger M. Mahony and a top advisor plotted to conceal child molestation by priests from law enforcement, including keeping them out of California to avoid prosecution, according to internal Catholic church records released Monday.

The archdiocese's failure to purge pedophile clergy and reluctance to cooperate with law enforcement has previously been known. But the memos written in 1986 and 1987 by Mahony and Msgr. Thomas J. Curry, then the archdiocese's chief advisor on sex abuse cases, offer the strongest evidence yet of a concerted effort by officials in the nation's largest Catholic diocese to shield abusers from police. The newly released records, which the archdiocese fought for years to keep secret, reveal in church leaders' own words a desire to keep authorities from discovering that children were being molested.

In the confidential letters, filed this month as evidence in a civil court case, Curry proposed strategies to prevent police from investigating three priests who had admitted to church officials that they abused young boys. Curry suggested to Mahony that they prevent them from seeing therapists who might alert authorities and that they give the priests out-of-state assignments to avoid criminal investigators.

One such case that has previously received little attention is that of Msgr. Peter Garcia, who admitted preying for decades on undocumented children in predominantly Spanish-speaking parishes. After Garcia's discharge from a New Mexico treatment center for pedophile clergy, Mahony ordered him to stay away from California "for the foreseeable future" in order to avoid legal accountability, the files show. "I believe that if Monsignor Garcia were to reappear here within the archdiocese we might very well have some type of legal action filed in both the criminal and civil sectors," the archbishop wrote to the treatment center's director in July 1986.

The following year, in a letter to Mahony about bringing Garcia back to work in the archdiocese, Curry said he was worried that victims in Los Angeles might see the priest and call police.

"[T]here are numerous — maybe twenty — adolescents or young adults that Peter was involved with in a first degree felony manner. The possibility of one of these seeing him is simply too great," Curry wrote in May 1987.

Garcia returned to the Los Angeles area later that year; the archdiocese did not give him a ministerial assignment because he refused to take medication to suppress his sexual urges. He left the priesthood in 1989, according to the church.

Garcia was never prosecuted and died in 2009. The files show he admitted to a therapist that he had sexually abused boys "on and off" since his 1966 ordination. He assured church officials his victims were unlikely to come forward because of their immigration status. In at least one case, according to a church memo, he threatened to have a boy he had raped deported if he went to police.

The memos are from personnel files for 14 priests submitted to a judge on behalf of a man who claims he was abused by one of the priests, Father Nicholas Aguilar Rivera. The man's attorney, Anthony De Marco, wrote in court papers the files show "a practice of thwarting law enforcement investigations" by the archdiocese. It's not always clear from the records whether the church followed through on all its discussions about eluding police, but in some cases, such as Garcia’s, it did.

Mahony, who retired in 2011, has apologized repeatedly for errors in handling abuse allegations. In a statement Monday, he apologized once again and recounted meetings he's had with about 90 victims of abuse.

"I have a 3 x 5 card for every victim I met with on the altar of my small chapel. I pray for them every single day," he wrote. "As I thumb through those cards I often pause as I am reminded of each personal story and the anguish that accompanies that life story."

"It remains my daily and fervent prayer that God's grace will flood the heart and soul of each victim, and that their life-journey continues forward with ever greater healing," he added. "I am sorry."

Curry did not return calls seeking comment. He currently serves as the archdiocese's auxiliary bishop for Santa Barbara.

The confidential files of at least 75 more accused abusers are slated to become public in coming weeks under the terms of a 2007 civil settlement with more than 500 victims. A private mediator had ordered the names of the church hierarchy redacted from those documents, but after objections from The Times and the Associated Press, a Superior Court judge ruled that the names of Mahony, Curry and others in supervisory roles should not be blacked out.

Garcia's was one of three cases in 1987 in which top church officials discussed ways they could stymie law enforcement. In a letter about Father Michael Wempe, who had acknowledged using a 12-year-old parishioner as what a church official called his "sex partner," Curry recounted extensive conversations with the priest about potential criminal prosecution.

"He is afraid ... records will be sought by the courts at some time and that they could convict him," Curry wrote to Mahony. "He is very aware that what he did comes within the scope of criminal law."

Curry proposed Wempe could go to an out-of-state diocese "if need be." He called it "surprising" that a church-paid counselor hadn't reported Wempe to police and wrote that he and Wempe "agreed it would be better if Mike did not return to him."

Perhaps, Curry added, the priest could be sent to "a lawyer who is also a psychiatrist" thereby putting "the reports under the protection of privilege."

Curry expressed similar concerns to Mahony about Father Michael Baker, who had admitted his abuse of young boys during a private 1986 meeting with the archbishop.

In a memo about Baker's return to ministry, Curry wrote, "I see a difficulty here, in that if he were to mention his problem with child abuse it would put the therapist in the position of having to report him … he cannot mention his past problem."

Mahony's response to the memo was handwritten across the bottom of the page: "Sounds good —please proceed!!" Two decades would pass before authorities gathered enough information to convict Baker and Wempe of abusing boys.

Federal and state prosecutors have investigated possible conspiracy cases against the archdiocese hierarchy. Former Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said in 2007 that his probe into the conduct of high-ranking church officials was on hold until his prosecutors could access the personnel files of all the abusers. The U.S. attorney's office convened a grand jury in 2009, but no charges resulted.

During those investigations, the church was forced by judges to turn over some but not all of the records to prosecutors. The district attorney's office has said its prosecutors plan to review priest personnel files as they are released.

Mahony was appointed archbishop in 1985 after five years leading the Stockton diocese. While there, he had dealt with three allegations of clergy abuse, including one case in which he personally reported the priest to police.

In Los Angeles, he tapped Curry, an Irish-born priest, as vicar of clergy. The records show that sex abuse allegations were handled almost exclusively by the archbishop and his vicar. Memos that crossed their desks included graphic details, such as one letter from another priest accusing Garcia of tying up and raping a young boy in Lancaster.

Mahony personally phoned the priests' therapists about their progress, wrote the priests encouraging letters and dispatched Curry to visit them at a New Mexico facility, Servants of the Paraclete, that treated pedophile priests.

"Each of you there at Jemez Springs is very much in my prayers and I call you to mind each day during my celebration of the Eucharist," Mahony wrote to Wempe.

The month after he was named archbishop, Mahony met with Garcia to discuss his molestation of boys, according to a letter the priest wrote while in therapy. Mahony instructed him to be "very low key" and assured him "no one was looking at him for any criminal action," Garcia recalled in a letter to an official at Servants of the Paraclete.

In a statement Monday on behalf of the archdiocese, a lawyer for the church said its policy in the late 1980s was to let victims and their families decide whether to go to the police.

"Not surprisingly, the families of victims frequently did not wish to report to police and have their child become the center of a public prosecution," lawyer J. Michael Hennigan wrote.

He acknowledged memos written in those years "sometimes focused more on the needs of the perpetrator than on the serious harm that had been done to the victims."

"That is part of the past," Hennigan wrote. "We are embarrassed and at times ashamed by parts of the past. But we are proud of our progress, which is continuing."

Hennigan said that the years in which Mahony dealt with Garcia were "a period of deepening understanding of the nature of the problem of sex abuse both here and in our society in general" and that the archdiocese subsequently changed completely its approach to reports of abuse.

"We now have retired FBI agents who thoroughly investigate every allegation, even anonymous calls. We aggressively assist in the criminal prosecution of offenders," Hennigan wrote.

Mahony and Curry have been questioned under oath in depositions numerous times about their handling of molestation cases. The men, however, have never been asked about attempts to stymie law enforcement, because the personnel files documenting those discussions were only provided to civil attorneys in recent months. De Marco, the lawyer who filed the records in civil court this month, asked a judge last week to order Curry and Mahony to submit to new depositions “regarding their actions, knowledge and intent as referenced in these files.” A hearing on that request is set for February.

In a 2010 deposition, Mahony acknowledged the archdiocese had never called police to report sexual abuse by a priest before 2000. He said church officials were unable to do so because they didn't know the names of the children harmed.

"In my experience, you can only call the police when you've got victims you can talk to," Mahony said.

When an attorney for an alleged victim suggested "the right thing to do" would have been to summon police immediately, Mahony replied, "Well, today it would. But back then that isn't the way those matters were approached."

Since clergy weren't legally required to report suspected child abuse until 1997, Mahony said, the people who should have alerted police about pedophiles like Baker and Wempe were victims' therapists or other "mandatory reporters" of child abuse.

"Psychologists, counselors … they were also the first ones to learn [of abuse] so they were normally the ones who made the reports," he said.

In Garcia's 451-page personnel file, one voice decried the church's failures to protect the victims and condemned the priest as someone who deserved to be behind bars. Father Arturo Gomez, an associate pastor at a predominantly Spanish-speaking church near Olvera Street, wrote to a regional bishop in 1989, saying he was "angry" and "disappointed" at the church's failure to help Garcia's victims. He expressed shock that the bishop, Juan A. Arzube, had told the family of two of the boys that Garcia had thought of taking his own life.

"You seemed to be at that moment more concern[ed] for the criminal rather than the victum! (sic)" Gomez wrote to Arzube in 1989.

Gomez urged church leaders to identify others who may have been harmed by Garcia and to get them help, but was told they didn't know how.

"If I was the father … Peter Garcia would be in prison now; and I would probably have begun a lawsuit against the archdiocese," the priest wrote in the letter. "The parents … of the two boys are more forgiving and compassionate than I would be."

 

 

Committing suicide by trying to jump over Museveni’s dead body!!! Rugunda welcomes electoral reforms ahead of 2016 polls

EC boss Badru Kiggundu and NCF chief Dr. Rugunda at the meeting. Photo by Peter Busomoke

newvision

Rugunda welcomes electoral reforms ahead of 2016 polls

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/639118-rugunda-welcomes-electoral-reforms-ahead-of-2016-polls.html

Publish Date: Jan 22, 2013

By Moses Walubiri

ICT Minister and chairperson National Consultative Forum (NCF), Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, has extolled efforts aimed at introducing electoral reforms ahead of 2016 polls as “a viable tool” to ensure that the Electoral Commission presides over “credible, transparent and acceptable elections.”

Presiding over the opening of a five-day retreat of representatives of the 38 political parties and other key stakeholders at Imperial Golf View Hotel – Entebbe Tuesday, Rugunda rooted for transparency of the electoral process to defuse what he called “unnecessary uncertainty and suspicion” during election cycles.

The retreat is also tailored to producing an acceptable draft of a code of conduct for political parties and a blue print to govern inter-party interactions under the NCF framework.

“Electoral reforms are tailored to the common good of Ugandans and this will show that the EC is ready to conduct transparent, credible and acceptable elections,” Rugunda said.

UNDP country representative, Lebogang Motlana dubbed conducting credible elections a vital cog in ensuring stability which is vital for economic transformation.

“These are essential tenets for a stable democracy and prosperity. There is no country that has achieved prosperity without stability,” Motlan said in reference to the mooted code of conduct for political parties and electoral reforms.

Since the return to multiparty dispensation in 2006, opposition political parties have voiced their disquiet about an uneven ‘political playing field’ during elections, citing the composition of the EC that is wholly appointed by the president as proof of the electoral body’s inability to conduct credible elections.

Opposition parties have also clamored for streamlining of the role of security forces in the electoral process, to avoid what they deem as undue influence of the process in the ruling party’s favor.

All these issues will be discussed as the ruling party and opposition parties try their hands on electoral reform – an issue that has propped up at every election cycle.

The retreat is being help under the auspices of the UNDP and is being graced by EC boss Dr. Badru Kiggundu and Deputy Attorney General, Fred Ruhindi.

 Mzee Bidandi-Ssali

Bidandi's open letter to Museveni

http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3109:bidandis-open-letter-to-museveni&catid=37:guest-writers&Itemid=66

Monday, 27 April 2009 09:33

Written by Bidandi Ssali

His Excellency,
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni,
President,
Republic of Uganda,

Your Excellency,

I salute you Mr. President.

I am addressing you on the delay of the amendment of the electoral laws as a matter of extreme concern for peace and stability of our country. The Electoral Commission has announced a programme for the 2011 general elections well in time for the people of Uganda to be sensitized to play their constitutional right to elect their leaders for another five years.

Mr. President, the People’s Progressive Party and indeed all peace loving Ugandans are worried that, up to now your government has not bothered to bring to Parliament the necessary amendments to the electoral laws that should ensure free and fair elections.

Your Excellency must be aware of the controversies that followed the 2001 and 2006 elections that ended in Courts of Law whose verdict was that, the electoral process was marred by malpractices which many consider worse than those which triggered your heading for the bush to wage an armed war against the Obote II government. You need not be reminded of the price this country has paid as a consequence in terms of blood epitomized to date by monuments of human skulls and the tragedy of the northern war which still claims lives of Ugandans and has created a traumatized society in disarray whose hearts will continue bleeding for decades to come.

Judging by what has been happening during the by-elections which have included intimidation, beating of voters and stuffing of ballot boxes perpetrated especially by your NRM, the country is likely to experience the same if not worse chaos come 2011.

The primary solution obviously lies in amending the electoral laws and procedures in order to ensure free and fair elections. The PPP and other Parties are certainly working to dislodge you from the leadership of this country to arrest further destruction of the country, your good beginning in the eighties and nineties notwithstanding. However, the PPP will not raise a finger if your unbridled love for power is achieved through free and fair elections which unfortunately are not possible with the present Electoral Commission and present laws.

Mr. President, we see your unwillingness to amend the electoral laws as part of a deliberate scheme to rig the 2011 elections so that even if ultimately some amendments are stampeded through Parliament, it will be logically impossible to implement them because of time and resource constraints.

I can assure Your Excellency that that will be a recipe for another spate of bloody chaos in the country. You might have equipped the army, militarized the police and the civil service and misused the poor peasants’ children by training them into Kiboko Squads to beat the very people you are mandated to protect but this time the price in human blood and subsequent skulls could be much more than the country has seen before.
In stating so, I am not a harbinger of doom, but one only needs to feel the political pulse of the people of Uganda today and place it in focus with our past and what recently went on in countries like Kenya and Zimbabwe.

This is the time to reconstitute the Electoral Commission in order to reflect a credible institution that will not only be, but also appear to Ugandans to be impartial under a multiparty democracy. Be informed Mr. President that there is a limit beyond which reliance on money or the might of the gun and other means of coercion will keep one in power against the will of the majority of the people’s wish.

Incidentally Your Excellency, what really happened to the Museveni of the eighties and nineties? Why have you persisted in destroying the democratic institutions of governance with impunity and instead taken over their roles? Why set Parliament against the Presidency? Cultural institutions against each other? Public officers against each other? As a student of political science, what does NEPOTISM mean to you? And what do you feel when its ugly face and consequences are attributed to your leadership? When you read in The Independent Newsmagazine issues detailing the involvement of almost your entire family and relatives in the governance of the country, isn’t your conscience perturbed in any way?



Mr. President, you have played your part and made a monumental contribution to this country. You have an obligation to hand over to the next generation a united, peaceful and free Uganda with its people living in harmony.


A word about my son Muhoozi Kainerugaba. I know him well enough. By nature and training he should be one of the finest soldiers we have in the country. Please protect him by weaning him from your parental grip to enable him fulfill his professional mandate to the country. He is NOT his father’s soldier. You have ceded Muhoozi the son to the service of Uganda and its people. Set him free so that his destiny is not embroiled in your destiny which in the end will be defined and decided by your own actions and decisions. This is a divine law of nature that has enabled the children of past leaders like Amin, Obote, Lutwa and others live peacefully outside the shadows of their parents. The same position though does not hold in respect of the children of the late Mobutu Sese Seko or the Sadams of yesterday.

You and I are not prodigies of the whims of the late Kaguta your dad or Bumali Kakonge, my late father.

Finally, let me once again assure Your Excellency that I write all this to caution a colleague I respect but who I believe has lost conscience and all ethical ethos of leadership, and therefore bound to land our country in the abyss of further disintegration, hatred and chaos.

FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY.
Bidandi-Ssali
Chairman,
People’s Progressive Party

UK court charges Ugandan priest over fake marriages

Reverend Nathan Ntege

newvision

UK court charges Ugandan priest over fake marriages

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/639114-uk-court-charges-ugandan-priest-over-fake-marriages.html

Publish Date: Jan 22, 2013

By Vision Reporter and Agencies

A vicar has been charged with presiding over 492 fake marriages in 16 months - equivalent to one a day.

Reverend Nathan Ntege was arrested in June last year following an investigation into sham marriages by the UK Border Agency.

The 53-year-old is accused of conducting a string of fake marriages at the St Jude's with St Aidan Church in Thornton Heath, south London, between December 2009 and March 2011, Mail Online has reported.

Ntege has been charged with 14 immigration offences, including one offence of conspiracy to facilitate unlawful immigration and 13 charges of assisting illegal entry in relation to 492 marriages held at his church.

It is believed the border agency's Criminal and Financial Investigation Unit started investigating after a tip off about the vast number of marriages conducted at the church.

Ntege, who is originally from Uganda but lives in Croydon, appeared at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday along with his 79-year-old verger, Brian Miller, of Selsdon, south London, who faces the same charges.

The pair spoke only to confirm their names and were bailed ahead of a hearing at Croydon Crown Court on Friday.

Gilena Petkova, 50, has also been charged in relation to the alleged offences.

She is accused of being a 'fixer' for fake weddings and was allegedly married in a sham service.

 Petkova has been charged with conspiracy and five charges of assisting illegal entry and is due to appear at Camberwell Green JPs on February 7.

Claire Holder, a lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service, said last week there was 'sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest' to prosecute the three.

Ntege was bailed on condition that he does not attend St Jude's, officiate at a religious building or service and or apply for travel documents.

He was suspended by the Diocese of Southwark when he was arrested last year, pending the outcome of the case.

In 2010 Reverend Alex Brown was jailed for conducting 360 fake weddings in Hastings in a case the CPS described as the 'biggest sham marriage case it had seen'.

Already created a state with in a state: M23 accused of imposing new leaders and taxes

FIRST READ:

Museveni, Kagame order M23 rebels to Get out of Goma: Rebels say NO!!!

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/11/museveni-kagame-order-m23-rebels-to-get.html

M23 accused of imposing new leaders and taxes

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/639133-m23-accused-of-imposing-new-leaders-and-taxes.html

Publish Date: Jan 23, 2013

By Raymond Baguma and agencies

The civil society in eastern DR Congo has accused M23 rebels of replacing leaders and imposing heavy taxes on local communities while peace talks continue in Kampala.

According to AFP, the civil society said that since taking control of North Kivu, M23 is raising taxes and naming their own tribal chiefs in place of legal traditional leaders who have fled.

Etienne Kambale from the federation of civil society non-governmental organisations in North Kivu cited that a man called Makombe the traditional chief of Buhamba sector had been replaced with Rusisi, who escaped from a prison recently.

Also, Benjamin Bonimpa was named administrator of Rutshuru after the rebels seized the territory last July. Also, the legal administrator, Justin Mukanya, now runs a “free” part of Rutshuru, bordering the Lubero territory.

But Jean-Marie Runiga, the M23 leader dismissed the accusations. “These tribal chiefs do their work and we do our own. We can't leave a population without leaders. To say that M23 is shifting traditional power is propaganda (...) these are things that we would never do.”

Runiga added, “We take ordinary customs duties and taxes. It’s just the same as in the time of the government. The same taxes are still received by us for three reasons – security, the upkeep of the administration and road repairs.”

The M23 rebels captured Goma on November 20, but withdrew from Goma two weeks later after the intervention of regional leaders under the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

The accusation against M23 comes as the Kampala talks with the DRC government moved into the substantive stage after adopting rules of procedure and agenda.

The talks being facilitated by the defence minister Dr. Crispus Kiyonga aim to find a peaceful solution to the on-going conflict in the provinces of South and North Kivu.

Eating the world!!! Celebrity Ugandan Prosperity Musician Pastor Dr. Tee (real name Travis Kazibwe) of Kann Records is now caught up in a sex scandal involving three wives

Celebrity Ugandan Musician Dr.Tee

Singer Dr. Tee Now a Full Time Pastor

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/526/577/745714

The New Vision, 3 February 2011

CELEBRATED music producer Dr. Tee (real name Travis Kazibwe) of Kann Records in Makindye has continued his meteoric rise in spiritual circles.

Dr.Tee with his new catch Malaika

Just a short time after raiding the gospel music realm, Dr. Tee is now a full time evangelist. Dr. Tee told our snoop, recently, that he has now gone into full evangelistic ministry as a co-pastor with Clear Ministries of God Church, which is located in Kazo.

Dr. Tee nonetheless said he would continue to do his work at Kann Records, while at the same time saving souls for God. Congratulations, Dr. Tee.

 Dr.Tee's three wives from left  Malaika, Bashabire in the middle  and  Mpologoma.

Dr Tee sets up church in Kazo

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/9/40/739429

Publish Date: Nov 26, 2010

SINGER and music producer at Kann Records, Makindye, Travis Kazibwe, whose stage name is Dr Tee, is now a pastor. He preaches every Sunday at Clear Ministries of God Church at Kazo, Kawempe Division in Kampala.

He runs the church with pastors Richard Mugisha, Richard Lwanja and John Kato on land donated by George Ssemuwemba.

Dr. Tee says he will stick to Gospel music and converting people. He told snoops, he converted Catherine Namugumya and her fiance Willy Mukaabya whom she introduced recently with sponsorship from the church.

 Bashabire with Dr Tee's children

Tewali alitwawukanya ne Dr.Tee-Betty Mpologoma

http://www.bukedde.co.ug/news/67820-tewali-alitwawukanya-ne-dr-tee-betty-mpologoma.html

Oct 27, 2012

Kampala

Bya STEVEN MUSOKE

OMUYIMBI Betty Mpologoma asekeredde abamuyeeya nti Dr. Tee amusuddewo n’agamba nti bbo omukwano gwabwe gwava wala era tewali ayinza kugwekiikamu. “Sirina bwe nnyinza kunnyonnyola nkolagana yange ne Dr. Tee, ye Polomoota wange, ye Producer era ettutumu lino lye nnina y’alintuusizzaako.

Dr. Tee tumaze emyaka egisoba mu 12 nga tuli ffembi era twetegeera bulungi. Eky’omukazi okuba n’abaana tekinjigula ttama kuba twagalana”.


Kino kiddiridde Dr. Tee ng’amannya ge amatuufu ye Trevor Kazibwe okwemulula ku Betty Mpologoma n’akyala mu bazadde ba Mariane Bashabirye, nkubakyeyo mu Bungereza.

Dr. Tee with  Bashabire.

Mpologoma yagambye nti okuva Bukedde bwe yafulumizza amawulire agalaga nga Dr. Tee bw’amusuddewo, abasajja bangi okusingira ddala abagagga b’omu Kampala bamukubira essimu nga bamusaba aleme kuterebuka olwa Dr. Tee okumukyawa kuba bajja kumulabirira aleme kujulirira mu ngeri yonna.

Okukakasa kino, ku Lwokusatu omu ku basuubuzi b’emmotoka mu Kampala Herman Ssebuufu yayise Mpologoma n’amuwa kaasi obukadde bubiri agira alyako aleme kulimbibwa basajja abayinza okumutuusa ku bizibu ebirala.

Mpologoma agamba nti Ssebuufu mwannyina era ye yatadde ssente mu vidiyo ye empya eya ‘Jjejjerebu’gye yakutte ne Dr. Tee.

Ku Ssande ewedde, Dr. Tee ne Mpologoma balina omukolo gw’okwanjula kwe beesisinkanidde ne bagwang’ana mu bifuba ekyasanyusizza abaabaddewo.



Dr Tee atabuse: Betty Mpologoma amugasseeko omukazi omulala

http://bukedde.co.ug/news/69551-dr-tee-atabuse-betty-mpologoma-amugasseeko-omukazi-omulala.html  

Kampala

Bya MEDDIE MUSISI

OMUYIMBI Dr. Tee ng’amannya ge amatuufu ye Trevis Kazibwe atabuse ne mukyalawe ‘Nkubakyeyo’ eyaakamwanjula oluvannyuma lw’omukazi okukizuula nti ate alinayo omuwala omulala gwe yazaddemu abaana babiri.

Maraine Bashabire omutuuze w’e Bungereza ye yatabuse ne bba (Dr. Tee) oluvannyuma lw’okukitegeera nti alina omukazi omulala ayitibwa Grace Malaika gw’aludde ng’apepeya naye era nga mu kiseera kino balina abaana babiri okuli omulenzi gwe yabbulamu amannya ge Devine Trevis Kazibwe aweza emyaka ebiri ate nga ge gamu ge yatuuma n’omulenzi omukulu owa Bashabire ssaako n’omuwala gwe yatuuma Sonnie Kazibwe.

 Dr. Dee with  Mpologoma

Omu ku mikwano gya Dr. Tee yategeezezza nti, omuwala Malaika aludde nga yeewaanira ku Bashabire ng’amukubira amasimu n’okumuwandiikira obubaka ku mukuttu gwa Facebook okuva lwe yalaba okwanjula kwabwe mu Bukedde okwabaddewo mu October w’omwaka oguwedde.

Yatutegeezezza nti Malaika olwalaba ebifaanannyi by’okwanjula n’ava mu mbeera n’ayombesa Dr. Tee olw’okumulekawo n’ayanjula omukazi omulala era okuva olwo yatandika okuteeka ebifaanannyi bye ng’ali ne Dr. Tee ku Facebook mu ngeri ey’okulumya muggyawe, Bashabire.

Obubaka Malaika bw’aweereza
Mu bumu ku bubaka bwe yateese ku mukutu guno ng’awandiikira muggyawe, Bashabire yamutegeezezza nti “Akusuubiza nsi, ate nze ansuubiza Ggulu….to my co-wife… I luv you darling..,” .

“I need your prayers oba wuwo, lwaki nze anjagala nnyo….lwaki bwe nvaawo akaaba?

“Ebyo eby’embaga gye yakusuubiza bya kiwaani kubanga nze yaginsuubiza dda”
Bashabire olwategedde ku ky’abaana, yalinnyiddewo ennyonyi era olwatuuse yagaanyi okugenda mu maka gaabwe ne Dr. Tee n’asalawo kusula mu wooteeri.

Ebirala ku Dr Tee......

• Dr Tee ayanjuddwa mu nkukutu n'aleka Mpologoma

• Betty Mpologoma akyakukuta ne Dr. Tee

• Tewali alitwawukanya ne Dr Tee: Betty Mpologoma

Ensonda zaategeezezza nti oluyombo lwa Malaika ne Bashabire ku Facebook lututte akabanga nti era Bashabire yakubirako mukwano gwe, Robina Bisirikirwa n’amubuulira ku ky’omukazi ono Grace Malaika amuvuma.

Olwakwagala okwongera okulumya Bashabire omutwe, Malaika yaddidde ebifannanyi by’abaana be n’ebya Dr. Tee n’abiyiwa ku mukutu guno.

Ensonda e Mmengo ewasangibwa situdiyo ya Dr. Tee eyitibwa Song Factory zaategeezezza nti waliwo omuntu abadde atambulira ku Dr. Tee nga y’abuulira Bashabire buli kimu ekigenda mu maaso wano nga kw’atadde n’okumuwa olugambo olutali lutuufu.

Ku lumu ku lugambo lwe yategeezeza nti lwe yafuna ng’ali e London, kye ky’okugamba nga omuwala Malaika bw’atava ku situdiyo e Mengo nti bannyuka bombi kumpi buli lunaku ekintu ky’agamba nti kye kyasinze okukuulako Bashabire waya n’atuuka n’okulinnya ennyonyi okujja wano bagasimbagane ne bba ku nsonga zino.
Ensonda zaategeezeza nti okuva Bashabire lwe yatuuse wano, tebannabeerako mu mbeera nnungi ne bba era baatuuse n’okusisinkana abamu ku bakulembeze mu balokole babatabaganye.

 Muka Dr. Tee n’abaana baabwe.

Dr. Tee ayanjuddwa mu nkukutu n’aleka Mpologoma

http://www.bukedde.co.ug/news/67804-dr-tee-ayanjuddwa-mu-nkukutu-n-aleka-mpologoma.html

Oct 26, 2012

Kampala

Bya MUSASI WAFFE
Omuyimbi Dr. Tee aleseewo Betty Mpologoma n’akyala mu nkukutu mu bakadde b’omukazi omulala, abamu kye baayise okwanjula olw’ebintu ebingi bye yatutte n’engeri omukolo gye gwatambuddemu.

Omukolo gwabadde Bulenga mu maka ga ssenga w’omukyala ku luguudo lw’e Mityana gye buvuddeko.
Omukazi ono eyategeerekese nga Mariane Bashabirye abeera London era balina abaana babiri omulenzi n’omuwala.

Dr. Tee ng’amannya ge amatuufu ye Trevor Kazibwe aludde ng’apepeya n’omuyimbi Betty Mpologpma, wadde nga tebabeera wamu.

Mpologoma bwe yabuuziddwa ku kya muganzi we Dr. Tee okwanjulwa omukazi omulala yagambye nti;  “Dr. Tee ‘sereebu’ atasobola kukola mukolo mu nkukutu.  Nze mukazi omukulu era nze mmanyiddwa n’olwekyo ebyo eby’okwanjula kwabwe tebinkwatako. Ekirala  nze eby’okwanjula omusajja si bye ndiko, nneekubira miziki

bategeka okwanjula makeke essaawa yonna.

Dr. Tee yawerekeddwaako abantu batono ddala okwabadde Karim Ssaava Nsubuga ne Robinah Bisirikirwa, nnamwandu wa Paul Kafeero era tebaayambadde kkanzu.

Abagenyi baabateereddewo weema wabweru mwe baabalamusirizza era okwefanaanyirizaako okwanjula, baafunye ekiseera ne babayingiza mu nnyumba ne baweebwa n’akatta mukago, gattako ekijjulo okwabadde empombo.

 Dr. Tee ne Mpologoma nga bakwata vidiyo ya ‘Jjejjerebu’.

Gye buvuddeko Mpologoma yafulumizza vidiyo y’oluyimba lwe olupya ‘Jjejjerebu’ lwe yakoze ne Dr. Tee nga ku bbiici emu gye baatutte n’ekitanda kwe baagikwatidde.

Ensonda zaategeezeza nti Dr. Tee aludde nnyo ne  ‘nkubakyeyo’ ono nga baalabaganira Sweden gye yamala ebbanga eddene ng’akuba ebidongo.

Yatutte ebintu ebiwerako omwabadde n’enkoko y’omuko era n’agimwekwasiza. Wano mu Buganda enkoko eweebwa omuko mu kwanjula.