I survived the Kanungu inferno narrowly; former believer narrates

I survived the Kanungu inferno narrowly; former believer narrates (Published in Daily Monitor on March 16, 2007)   by FELIX BASIIME in MBARARA.

MARCH 17, 2000 is a day to remember as it is still fresh in the minds of most Ugandans and the Christian communities when a cult in South western Uganda masterminded the death of its over 1000 followers.  

It is now 7 years (2007) when the "Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God", a breakaway group from the Roman Catholic Church formed especially in parts of Western Uganda and Buganda regions in the late 1980s.

The movement was founded by excommunicated Roman Catholic priests: Joseph Kibweteere, Joseph Kasapurari, John Kamagara and Dominic Kataribabo and excommunicated Roman Catholic nun, Credonia Mwerinde, who was also reported to be an ex-prostitute.

As the name implies the group strongly emphasized the 10 Commandments, they emphased and discouraged talking out of fear of breaking the commandment about giving false witness. The cult had a strong emphasis on the apocalypse, highlighted by their booklet A Timely Message from Heaven: The End of the Present Time. New members were required to study it and be trained in it, reading it as many as six times.

They also taught that Mother Mary had a special role in the apocalypse, and communicated to the leadership. They saw themselves as like Noah's Ark, a ship of righteousness in a sea of depravity. The cult was secretive and was literally silent.

The leaders used to pay graduated tax promptly to Kanungu sub county for all campers in a bid to avoid chiefs from visiting the camp and know other details.

Therefore it was relatively unknown to the outside world until 2000, although in 1998 the school they ran was closed by the government due to unsanitary conditions and violation of  child labour statutes.

On March 17, 2000, around 500 followers died in a fire in what is considered a mass murder. Investigations conducted by Uganda police after the fire discovered mass graves in different parts of the country, raising the death toll to over 1,000.

Daily Monitor's Western Bureau Chief, FELIX BASIIME, who also covered the inferno stories in Kanungu in 2000, recently (March 2007) met one of the survivors, Mr Ponsiano Nuwamanya, 30, and takes us through his days at the Kanungu cult centre up to the day of the inferno and how he narrowly escaped the fire.

Ques: Where do you hail from?

Ans: I was born 30 years ago at Kyeizooba in Bushenyi district from a Catholic family of Mr and Mrs Thomas Katantari.

Ques: How did you come to know of Kibwetere's cult and how, when did you join it?

Ans: I joined the cult in Kanungu in December 1999 when my grand mother, Ms Sefuroza Kenyangi hailing from Bunyarigye Kitabi came and took me with some other relatives. She was already a member of the cult and we were earlier staying with her at Kitabi so she came back to sell her property and land before she took us. She convinced us that the world would end with 2000.

Ques: What did you experience on your first day at Kanungu camp?

Ans: We found a similar doomsday message being preached as the order of the day throughout the camp.

Ques: What was the arrangement and order at the camp?

Ans: Women and men were separated in the camp as far as sitting arrangement in church daily and had different domitories. The new comers would wear black gowns, old members with black, while the leaders had white and green gowns.

Ques. Was the church mass for Sunday only?

Ans: No, it was daily. There was a morning mass, day time and evening mass and mostly being led by Mwerinde. She would ask us daily to dedicate our selves wholy to God as was in Noah's days and reasoned that those who heeded Noah and boarded the boat survived.

Ques: Which other leaders did you see at the camp throghout your time at Kanungu?

Ans: Other leaders at the camp were Kasapurari, Kataribaabo but I had never seen before Kibwetere at the camp during my time there but was always talked about as our leader but up to the end he did not turn up.

Ques: Were you aware of other branches apart from the Kanungu camp?

Ans: Yes, but we were not told of their locations, but whenever a member was inquisitive about the doomsday or the where abouts of Kibwetere or about the sale of their property, they would be transferred to other branches and would never return.

Ques: What was your daily food menu like?

Ans: They used to cook for us Matooke, potatoes, posho with beans mostly for lunch and supper while posho porridge with sugar for breakfast and evening.

Ques: What was your main source of light at the camp?
Ans: We mainly used tadooba and leaders would provide paraffin. Wax candles were mainly used in church.

Ques: Was your worship different from the Catholic Church?

Ans: It was basically the same only that we would worship throughout the week and even on Sunday had no change. But they emphasized mainly the last 5 Commandments in the Bible.

Ques: How was the last week of the cult at Kanungu like?

Ans: Towards the final day, worship was intensified through out the week. They were telling us that the world was ending very soon so we should dedicate ourselves more with fasting. We had never before been told to fast. On Thursday, we feasted on cows and soda, we prayed and sang throughout day and night.

Ques: Take us through the final day: Friday?

Ans: We started it as usual with breakfast but later we were sprinkled with the blessed water which had a queer smell from the one they used to sprinkle on us daily. 5 gericans of the blessed water in 20 litre, and 10 litres were placed in the corners of the dormitory we were praying from. Each one of us was given a candle and a match box. We kept on singing waiting for the Mother Mary to come as we were told but later I went outside to Kanungu trading centre to buy some cakes for the kids who were crying.

Ques: Was the blessed water always brought inside your worship place?

Ans: No, it used to remain in gericans in the office but all the same they would sprinkle us.

Ques: So what did you think of when the "water" was this time brought inside and strategically placed in the church?

Ans: I just thought that since it was a special day of prayer, we were to use more of the water than usual, so it was brought nearer us.

Ques: Were you allowed to go in and out of the prayer room on this day without any hindrance?

Ans: Yes, there were no restrictions of entering or going out but before I left for the trading centre, I saw 3 carpenters nailing the windows from outside while the insiders were told to bolt the windows from inside.

Ques: What did you think at this time about this act of locking the windows unusually?

Ans: I thought that may be we were all going to heaven and leaving our building intact and closed, I thought this was the intention of our leaders to leave our building locked as we go to heaven, so I hurried up to buy the cakes and returned.

Ques: What did you see on your return?

Ans: When I came back from the shops I saw the building on fire, with fire flames spreading outside, I came a bit closer and heard people inside yelling for help, I feared and run away for my dear life, I dashed for about 5kms down on Kanungu-Kabale road and later sat in the bushes confused until dusk came. When I gained back my conscience, I stopped a pick up at around 8pm, I narrated to the driver everything that had happened at the camp, he took me to his home, in the morning he gave me Shs 10,000 and went back home to Kyeizooba in Bushenyi.

Ques: When you found the building on fire, why didn't you join the rest for heaven?

Ans: No, I did not expect that this was the prepared heaven of fire, so I had to run away and save my life.

Ques; At home, what was the reception from your parents?

Ans: My parents first cried at seeing me back, I narrated to them the whole story and confirmed to them how all other relatives had died in the fire, my father then slaughtered a goat for me to jubilate.

Ques: Did your leaders die in the fire?

Ans: No, Mwerinde and Kasapuri during day time left the camp and were replaced by two new leaders. They told us that they were going to prepare another branch for similar prayers. Kataribaabo had left in the morning ahead of others.

Ques; What did you do after returning home?
Ans: I tried to return to school and failed due to lack of school fees, am now a broker at Mbarara Bus Park with Horizon Transport Company.

Ques: Where do you worship from now, are you still a member of the Kibwetere cult?

Ans: I returned to the Catholic Church.

Ques: What advice do you give Christians and government over such incidents?
Ans: People should not be disguised by cults, let them stay in their mother churches. And government should rescue its people where it deems as dangerous worship place.            
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