The High Court in Kampala has sentenced a self-proclaimed “prophet” to 40 years in prison for defiling, impregnating, and infecting a 16-year-old girl with HIV/Aids.
During the sentencing, Justice Margaret Mutonyi said Elijah James Kimera of All Faith Centre Church of All Nations in Lusanja, Wakiso District, “pretended to be a man of God and yet he was a wolf in a sheep’s skin.”
“The convict exhibited himself as a false prophet the Bible talks about in Matthew 7:15 ‘Watch out for false prophets. They will come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly, they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit, you will recognise them,” Justice Mutonyi said.
The judge added that Kimera assaulted the victim in a car on the church premises, thereby defiling the Holy ground.
“His sexual immorality right within the church premises was the true manifestation of his ferociousness as a false prophet turning the mother and daughter into a relationship akin to co-wives,” Justice Mutonyi held.
“But again like it is written in the Holy Book, which the convict was playing around with, in Luke 12: 2-3 to wit: ‘There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known, what you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs,” she added.
According to information presented in court, Kimera met the mother of the victims during a prayer session at his church. He ended up sleeping with her on multiple occasions and fathered a child with her.
The woman entrusted Kimera with two of her daughters, who later joined the church choir.
He then had a sexual relationship with the two, one of whom was 18 years old, while the other was 16, and infected both girls with HIV/Aids.
Justice Mutonyi said Kimera ought to have known that it is an abomination to see the nakedness of the mother and daughter as it is written in the book of Leviticus 20:14.
“He had sexual intercourse with the victim’s mother, the complainant in this case, and the victim who was her young child whom she sent to the convict for spiritual guidance and service as a choir member at the church,” she said.
Justice Mutonyi said it was only after these facts were exposed that the prophet admitted guilt and asked for forgiveness from both the court and Christ.
The judge said remorse after being exposed aims to manipulate the court into granting a lenient sentence.
The judge also noted that sexual violence against children is not only rampant in the Kampala High Court Circuit but in all circuits in Uganda.
“The family of the victim will live with the trauma of having children birthed by mother and daughter from the same man, the convict, which is an abomination not only as per the word of God but by our rich African culture,” Justice Mutonyi held.
She added: “In the result, he (prophet Kimera) is sentenced to 40 years of imprisonment less the period he has spent on remand which is the time before he was released on bail and the time after his bail was cancelled.”
The jurist also emphasized that defilement at church is akin to defilement at home because pastors are seen as spiritual parents.