Mr Joseph Collins Twahirwa, accused of raping Ms Saulite Anda, in the dock at Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court on January 18, 2023. PHOTO/ ABUBAKER LUBOWA
Lady in Latvian tourist rape saga fears for her life
What you need to know:
- Concerns. “There is a man who first helped the lady report the matter. On the day when NTV ran the story, he came to say the pastor is ready to pay me whatever money I want so as to stop following that matter because it seems things are getting out of hand,” Sumaya Uwiragiye, complainant
A woman, who claims she helped a Latvian national break the silence about her sexual abuse at the hands of a Ugandan pastor, says her life is in danger.
Ms Sumaya Uwiragiye has had to keep a wine shop and restaurant she operates at Lukuli Nanganda in Makindye Division under lock and key after Ms Saulite Anda spoke exclusively to NMG Uganda about her predicament.
Ms Anda, 36, accused Mr Joseph Collins Twahirwa of raping her during her first night in Uganda on December 11, 2022. Mr Twahirwa, 28, was last week remanded into custody at Luzira prison.
Now Ms Uwiragiye, 32, who helped Ms Anda tell her story to NMG Uganda, suspects she is being trailed by Mr Twahirwa’s emissaries.
“There is a man who first helped the lady report the matter at Jinja Road Police Station. On the day when NTV ran the story, he came to say the pastor is ready to pay me whatever money I want so as to stop following that matter because it seems things are getting out of hand,” Ms Uwiragiye said in an interview on Sunday. She told this publication that the unidentified man didn’t take no for an answer. On January 15, she was reportedly trailed by men on two motorcycles. This was as Ms Uwiragiye returned home with her sister.
“I have been forced to close the restaurant since January 15 because I do not know these people and their intentions,” she revealed, adding, “They can easily kill me. I do not know who they are, but I suspect these are followers of the pastor who are not pleased that he was remanded to prison.”
Ugandan pastor charged with raping Latvian tourist, remanded
What you need to know:
- 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.
Pastor Joseph Collins Twahirwa appeared before Nakawa Chief Magistrate Ritah Neumbe Kidasa who read to him the rape charges following his arrest this week.
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.