Followers of Wilson Bushara, a self-styled prophet, have re-grouped in Luwero district, sparking off fresh fears among the residents.
The group, comprising about 200 people, the majority of whom are women, have camped at Mbale Forest Reserve in Nalongo LC-I, Kakabale parish in Butuntumula sub-county.
They have reportedly been in the area for the last two months, but the number has gradually increased, according to the local leaders. The LC-II chairperson, John Wasswa, told Sunday Monitor, May 18 that the cult members have now formed mobile churches.
They move in small groups of about four to eight people and conduct prayers on roadsides.
Some residents complained to Sunday Monitor that the group had failed to pay their debts from shops in the area. The followers reportedly loiter in the trading centre and the nearby villages, asking for food and other items.
These are part of the over 1,000 followers who were dispersed from their camp at Bukoto in Nakaseke county on Sept. 18, 1999 after the police received reports that they were committing crimes, including defilement, rape, abduction and theft. "Prophet" Bushara escaped from the camp but was later arrested from Nabidongo village in Iganga district.
The regrouping has caused fresh panic among residents, who fear that an incident similar to that of the burning of hundreds of followers of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God in Kanungu, could occur in Luwero.
An area LC-I official, Fred Sekandi, told Sunday Monitor that the village council, chaired by Moses Walwo, had resolved to have the group dispersed. Bushara was the founder of the World Message Last Warning Church' and proclaimed that the world would end on June 30, 1999.