A Ugandan pastor accused of raping a Latvian tourist after he allegedly invited her to his church has been arraigned in a Kampala court and remanded to Luzira prison.
Pastor Joseph Collins Twahirwa appeared before Nakawa Chief Magistrate Ritah Neumbe Kidasa who read to him the rape charges following his arrest this week.
Prosecution led by Ms Doreen Elima alleges that Pr Twahirwa, a lawyer by profession, on December 12, 2022 at Munyonyo Zone in Kampala had unlawful carnal knowledge with Saulite Anda without her consent.
The magistrate did not allow him to take please on grounds that his case is capital offence in nature and can only be tried by the High Court.
Accordingly, the case was deferred to February 1, 2023 as police investigations continue.
Twahirwa was also remanded until then when he will be brought back to court for mention of the case.
This past weekend, Nation Media Group-Uganda exclusively reported about the predicament Anda claims Joseph Collins Twahirwa subjected her to shortly after touching down in Uganda on December 11, 2022.
The 36-year-old Latvian said Mr Twahirwa told her “he wanted to have a baby … pushed me onto the bed and raped me” on the night of December 11, 2022.
Anda also recounted her torment when she tried to file a case, first, at Jinja Road Police Station and, later, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (CID).
At the former, officers asked the Latvian to either “buy [fuel] to put in [their] car” or “to sleep with me.” At CID, the officers told Anda that she was “playing with a man who has big people around.”
The officers at Jinja Road Police Station, including Detective Sergeant Oyela Doreen, Detective Corporal Judith Akite, and Detective Joyce Ayeleget, were on Sunday arrested and will be charged with irregular conduct contrary to Code 12 Section 44 of the Police Act.
Anda’s case has put the reputation of police officers on the line as much as pentecostal pastors. When the Latvian tried to file a case at Jinja Road Police Station, it is alleged that the police officers joined Mr Twahirwa’s followers in tormenting her.
Anda told us that her phone was grabbed and all communications she had with Mr Twahirwa on social media were deleted in an attempt to destroy evidence of their interactions. Before, the officers at the station had allegedly forcibly removed shoes from her feet and roughed her up before locking her up in a cell. She was later released and ordered to withdraw the case against Mr Twahirwa.
In our last conversation with Anda, she expressed fears that her life was in danger following her first interview with us. A black car with red plates had been trailing her. The State has since secured her and given her a protection detail until the time of her departure.
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