The testimony of police surgeon Dr Phenehance Bwambale has dealt a major blow to the case against nine young men accused of blackmailing Pastor Robert Kayanja, after the doctor told court that his medical examinations found no evidence that the suspects had been sodomised.
Bwambale,a police surgeon attached to Kabalye Police Training School in Masindi, was the 10th defence witness in the long-running case before Mengo Grade One Magistrate Adams Byarugaba.
His evidence became one of the most closely watched moments of the trial because the medical findings were expected to shed light on the suspects’ claims that they had been sexually abused.
However, under examination and later re-examination, Bwambale maintained that the medical examinations did not support those allegations.
The doctor told court that seven of the nine suspects had normal anal sphincters and normal reflexes. He further said their anal regions were intact and showed no findings consistent with sodomy.
Bwambale said he examined the suspects at Masindi Main Prison and Nsambya Police Health Centre IV.
He specifically told court that he found no evidence that Reagan Ssentongo, Labib Khalifa, Martin Kagoro, Peter Sserugo, Alex Wakamala or Moses Tumwine had been sodomised.
Two other suspects, Israel Waiswa and Aggrey Kanene, have separately been described in the proceedings as workers of Pastor Jackson Ssenyonga.
The medical evidence also came against the backdrop of Police Form 3s earlier presented in court by the defence.
Some of the forms indicated that two suspects had what was described as a moving tail bone. However, Bwambale told court that such a condition could not by itself be attributed to sodomy because it could result from several other causes, including infections, HIV/AIDS and external trauma.
Re-examination brings no relief
After Bwambale’s initial testimony, the defence sought to scrutinise his findings further.
On October 1, 2026, lawyer Robert Ojiambo appeared with his junior colleague Bernard Mugyenyi to re-examine the police surgeon.
But rather than changing his position, Bwambale reaffirmed his earlier evidence.
He maintained that his examinations had not established that any of the suspects had been sodomised and said the boys were medically fine at the time he examined them.
Bwambale’s evidence effectively placed the medical claims at the centre of a wider evidentiary battle that has run through the case.
Earlier medical evidence
The court had previously heard similar evidence from Dr Sam Kalungi, the former head of Pathology at Mulago Hospital.
Testifying on January 29, 2024, Kalungi said he examined Peter Sserugo at the request of Detective Inspector of Police Cotilda Nandutu and found his buttocks and anus in normal condition, without wounds or signs of bleeding.
Kalungi also testified that examinations of other suspects found their sphincters intact.
He explained that the condition of the sphincter is important in assessing claims of anal penetration because damage to the muscles can affect their ability to control human waste.
The defence had earlier challenged the admissibility of some of Kalungi’s evidence, arguing that he was not a police surgeon.
That argument, however, did not erase the medical evidence subsequently given by Bwambale, who was a police surgeon and had personally examined the suspects.
Social media battle
With the medical evidence failing to establish the alleged sodomy, the dispute has also spilled onto social media.
Ssenyonga has been linked by the prosecution narrative to a number of TikTok accounts, including Olivia Kateme, Mark Kigozi, Labisa Media and Dark Truth, which have reportedly been used to comment on and circulate accounts of the proceedings.
Some of the online reports allegedly gave the impression that Pastor Kayanja had already lost the case, even though the proceedings were still ongoing.
The reports have added another layer to an already contentious case, with the parties trading accusations over the manner in which the court proceedings have been presented to the public.
Translation expert dispute
Another major point of contention arose when the defence sought to call a translation expert from Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC).
The defence had hoped to rely on the witness, but court insisted on an expert from Makerere University.
When the proposed Makerere expert did not appear, lawyer Mugyenyi reportedly alleged that the witness had been compromised.
The claim, however, was rejected by court as hearsay because no direct evidence was presented to substantiate the allegation.
The failure to secure the witness marked another setback for the defence as the trial moved towards its final stage.
Case heads for submissions
The case has now entered its closing phase.
After years of hearings, medical evidence, witness testimony and disputes over exhibits and expert witnesses, court has given both the prosecution and defence until December 9, 2026, to file their final submissions.
Magistrate Byarugaba adjourned the matter to that date after both sides agreed to close the case.
The December 9 hearing is expected to bring the lengthy proceedings into their final judicial stage, with the magistrate set to consider the evidence before delivering his ruling.
For Pastor Kayanja and his supporters, Bwambale’s testimony has emerged as one of the most significant pieces of evidence in the case, particularly because the doctor directly addressed the medical claims at the heart of the allegations.
For the defence, the challenge now shifts from presenting further witnesses to convincing court that the prosecution’s case has nevertheless been proved to the required legal standard.
