Frank Gashumba, a man known for being controversial, hit the headlines this week for calling out fake pastors and prophets. His no-holds-barred approach seems to have kept him relevant long after many of his contemporaries faded. He belongs to the same club as the late Tamale Mirundi, Alex Mukulu, and the surviving John Segawa. The right description for such a group, borrowing from Uganda Law Society President Isaac Ssemakadde, is “anti-clockwise thinkers” – and indeed Ssemakadde himself belongs to the same club.
This is not to say that Gashumba and his ilk are always right, but they are brave enough to say what makes the rest of us uncomfortable. That is why we often wait for them to do the heavy lifting, then emerge from the closet to share their frustration and defend them from attacks.
That is exactly what many netizens have done by rallying behind Gashumba to raise their voices against fake pastors and prophets. If I understood him correctly, Gashumba’s stance was not an attack on the Church or ordained men of God. It was about fake pastors and prophets who trade false miracles as merchandise.
Those attacking Gashumba perhaps misconstrued him and may not appreciate how many lives have been ruined by fake pastors through false prophecies. I know a man who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in hospital. When he approached a pastor (name withheld), he was given a contrary opinion and stopped taking his medication on the promise that he would be healed through a miracle.
Until his death, this man sold all his belongings to raise the hefty sums demanded to purchase that healing miracle from the so-called man of God, who held him at ransom. He eventually raised the money and went for his coveted miracle, which never came. The pastor disappeared, and a few months later, the man went to meet his creator. How do you convince me that his death was not hastened by a false prophecy? This is not to suggest the man was not destined to die, but why defraud him to the point of leaving nothing for his young family? We therefore ignore Gashumba’s message at our own peril.
Instead of dismissing him, we need to reflect on how to protect society from fake pastors and prophets, knowing how desperate and gullible the majority of our population has become. Imagine young men and women flocking to churches day and night expecting financial deliverance, yet their pastors are not kind enough to guide them that miracles do not work in isolation.
The continued silence on these issues has long given rise to what has been termed “Jesus-preneurship” – where fake pastors use the pulpit to rob their followers. Rob, because they have driven many into bankruptcy through false claims. What baffles many is that talk about fake pastors is not new; it has been delivered by different messengers before, including Pastor Isaac Rwomushana, who became a household name for this style of evangelism.
So why did it hit so hard when Gashumba became the messenger? Did he use charcoal to roast his targets? Did that charcoal produce so much smoke that Government is now threatening its ban? This, too, is a battle Government should be prepared to lose. It is not only misinformed but also miscalculated, because the policy alternatives available are too costly for the ordinary Ugandan. While the intentions may be good, as with many government policies, the devil lies in the alternatives proposed by the line Ministry, which are unrealistic and unaffordable.
Otherwise, if deforestation is the real concern, Government should invest in low-cost alternatives while protecting the charcoal value chain that employs millions — the same charcoal Gashumba used to roast fake pastors and prophets peddling false miracles.
The writer, Mr. Badru Walusansa, is a Social-Political Analyst
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