In a move that has sent shockwaves through Uganda’s booming Pentecostal scene, outspoken businessman and commentator Frank Gashumba has done what few dare: he has publicly challenged the country’s most celebrated miracle workers to put their powers where their pulpits are. By placing a staggering UGX 500 million on the table for any pastor, prophet or apostle who can walk into a hospital ICU and heal a critically ill patient under public, verifiable conditions, Gashumba has forced a national conversation that many religious leaders would prefer to avoid.
The dare began at UGX 200 million and was boldly raised to half a billion shillings after Gashumba questioned why leaders who fill stadiums with healing testimonies rarely, if ever, step into the intensive care units of Mulago, Nsambya or Lubaga where patients continue to die. His message has been consistent and uncompromising: if the power is real, prove it where the cameras, doctors and families can all see it. If it is not, stop collecting money from the desperate in the name of miracles.
The response has been telling. Instead of queuing at hospital gates, prominent voices have fired back with sermons and sharp words. Pastor Robert Kayanja of Miracle Centre Cathedral insisted his miracles are “God-made” and biblical, while Bishop David Kiganda compared the challenge to the devil tempting Jesus and pointed to his church’s community work rather than a hospital demonstration. Others have taken to social media and radio with personal attacks, accusations and warnings. Gashumba himself reported on Radio 4 that several pastors had come after him, even worrying his wife, Patience Mutoni Malaika. His reply was characteristically direct: “These are crooks; these are thugs and there is nothing they will do to me.”
What has not happened is the one thing the challenge demanded — a single pastor completing the task and collecting the cash. No critically ill patient has been publicly restored to health under the conditions Gashumba set. The money remains available. In the vacuum, supporters have flooded social media praising Gashumba for refusing to be treated as a “sheep” and for demanding evidence in an industry that thrives on unverifiable claims. Critics accuse him of testing God or lacking faith. Yet the absence of takers continues to speak louder than the sermons.
Gashumba’s willingness to stand firm even as the backlash reaches his home has turned him into an unlikely national figure for many Ugandans tired of stories of exploitation. Whether one agrees with his blunt style or not, the challenge has exposed a simple reality: when half a billion shillings is offered for a public, verifiable miracle in an ICU, the response has so far been words, not action. In a country where faith healing claims move millions of people and even more millions of shillings, that silence is its own kind of testimony.
For now, Frank Gashumba remains ready. The offer stands. And the question he forced onto the table refuses to go away.
The post Fearless Gashumba Puts Uganda’s Miracle Men on the Spot: Pastors Hurl Insults While UGX 500 Million Sits Untouched appeared first on Watchdog Uganda.