Uganda’s Pastor Martin Ssempa, the “eat da poo poo” lead proponent of the country’s Kill The Gays bill, is among eight individuals detained on allegations of conspiring to defame Pastor Robert Kayanja. Something about false allegations of forced sodomy?

Kayanja, of the Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral in Kampala, was allegedly targeted by Ssempa and others with claims of being a big gay. Kayanja’s conspirators, the Daily Monitor reports, are “accused of hiring Robson Matovu to blackmail Pastor Kayanja. Court heard that Pastor [Moses Solomon Male] reportedly gave Mr Matovu a signed and stamped affidavit implicating Pastor Kayanja while Samson Mukisa was reportedly promised necessities on condition that he would speak publicly on how Pastor Kayanja had sodomised him. A police report indicates that complaints of sodomy against Pastor Kayanja did not reveal any evidence the offences. ‘In retracting their statements, the complainants said they had been mobilised to make false accusations against Pastor Kayanja in order to tarnish his name,’ reads a report.”

The investigation began last year when allegations that Kayanja was a big perv surfaced, but those claims were then retracted, and now Ssempa & Co. are on the hook for falsely trying to smear a fellow pastor. As it stands, Male and and lawyer Henry Ddungu were in custody and then released on bond, while Ssempa and others have been ordered to appear.

As Box Turtle Bulletin relayed last year, the scandal is difficult to follow.

Other pastors are jumping onto the “outing” bandwagon to settle scores as well, and the rivalries are so complex that it takes some diagramming to keep it all straight. Here goes: Pastor Solomon Male of Arise for Christ Ministry accused Pastor Robert Kayanja of the Rubaga Miracle Center Cathedral of being a homosexual, along with “a group of other pastors.” Kayanja’s Rubaga Miracle Center is a very large and prosperous megachurch in Kampala. (Controversial American faith healer Benny Hinn will present a “Fire Conference” at that church on June 5th and 6th.) But an apparent friend of Kayanjka, Pastor Joseph Serwadda of the Victory Christian Centre, another megachurch in the Ndeeba section of Kampala which operates two FM stations, accused Male of of being an impostor, saying that he doesn’t even have a church. Kayanja’s personal aide, Chris Muwonge, was allegedly kidnapped and tortured by armed men and held for five days. His captors allegedly wanted him to make a video statement accusing Kayenja of molesting young boys. Kayanja accused his rival, Pastor Michael Kyazze of the Omega Healing Center of being behind the plot. Kyazze’s assistant, Pastor Robert Kayiira was arrested earlier for trying to sneak a laptop computer into Kayanja’s Miracle Center. His close friend? Pastor Solomon Male. Kayanja reportedly believes that Martin Ssempa is involved in the allegations against him as well.

As the site points out, these types of conspiracies to brand enemies as predatory gays will only increase if there’s a law like the Anti-Homosexuality Bill on the books, since it’ll be even easier to score convictions and prison sentences against those disgusting homosexuals. But here we are, with one small yet-to-play-out victory against Ssempa, and I’m going to enjoy this moment.