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As the millennium drew close, the leaders said the end of the world was set for December 31, 1999. The believers were told to sell all their earthly belongings and bring the money. They then moved into the group’s homes to wait for the end of the world, but the date passed without event, raising suspicion among the members. Followers then became disgruntled about the unfulfilled second coming of Jesus. Some realised they were being fooled and demanded their money back. The discipline of silence was forgotten and some people left. Sensing a rebellion, the leaders hatched a plan to get rid of dissenters. They said there was another vision in which the Virgin Mary told them the true date was March 17. This time she would come and take them away in flames of fire.
Towards doomsday, members stepped up preparations. Witnesses said they confessed their sins and sold off their property cheaply. There was a drive to bring back past members into the fold as well as recruit new members. Members said farewell to friends and family, beseeching them to join and escape the destruction of the world.
The cult had placed advertisements for new recruits on radio, from the time they first announced that the end of the world was on December 31, 1999. Anyone who wanted to go to heaven had to join the cult. They continued advertising until a week before the massacre. Other people were informed that the doomsday was March 18, probably to mislead authorities in case they planned to raid the church.
One week to doomsday, members from other branches started arriving in buses and trucks. They roasted three bulls and drank 70 crates of soda in a final feast. Inside the makeshift church building, members gathered, singing and chanting as they waited for the end. Containers with sulphuric acid mixed with water were placed at corners of the building. Suddenly, people outside heard an explosion followed by a raging fire. Attempts to rescue victims were futile as the doors and windows were sealed. In addition to the containers of acid, it is believed that mats inside were doused with petrol that exploded once members lit candles during the prayers.
Mass graves
The bodies inside the pit latrine led the Police to conclude that it was not just suicide, but mass murder. Over the next few days, more mass graves were discovered at different properties belonging to the cult. One of the graves was under the newly cemented floors of a 10-room house owned by Kataribaabo, where 81 bodies were found. Outside hidden by sugar cane plants, remains of 74 mutilated bodies were also discovered. Some of the dead had been hacked. The bodies appeared to have been buried a month and a half before.
How the intelligent and empathetic priest turned into a methodical murderer is a mystery. But the failure of the doomsday prophecy to materialise must have been too much for the former priest not to break the sixth commandment — thou shalt not kill. He seemed to be the chief executioner who arranged the killings. Days before the tragedy occurred Kataribaabo was seen buying 40 litres of sulphuric acid which the Police believed was used in starting the inferno.
Later other mass graves were discovered in different locations, including Fort Portal and Buziga in Kampala. Beset by a limited number of investigative staff, with only one forensic expert and a shortage of body bags, it was difficult to cope and the work stalled many times. In the end, over 450 bodies were uncovered. The leaders had been systematically eliminating their followers before the final massacre. The Police later found that most of the bodies discovered in mass graves were poisoned; those who delayed to die may have been strangled with little effort.
A former sect member revealed that outsiders who came looking for missing relatives were given poisoned tea to prevent them from causing trouble. It emerged that those who complained after the end of the world failed to happen were invited for meetings in groups and most of them never returned. Leaders told members they had been transferred to other camps.
Published on: Saturday, 15th March, 2008
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