Joshua Baraka has joined Uganda's ongoing debate on fake miracles, accusing pastors of living by feeding their congregations lies. Joshua Baraka (Ugandan Afrobeats/R&B singer) has publicly weighed in on the current debate over pastors and claimed miracles in Uganda. “Everything in this world has a counterfeit. The only miracle some pastors have seen is how they keep getting away with all the lies they feed their congregations every weekend.” This matches the description you gave (pastors living by inventing lies for followers). The post has drawn significant engagement and reactions, with some noting that Baraka is a pastor’s son (his father, Pastor Okello Lawrence Habalu, died in June 2026) and that he previously sang in church and has spoken about faith. The immediate spark is a public challenge by commentator/businessman Frank Gashumba. He offered first Shs 200 million, later raised to Shs 500 million, to any Ugandan pastor, prophet, or apostle who can demonstrate a verifiable healing miracle on a critically ill patient in a major hospital (e.g., Mulago, Nsambya, or similar) under public conditions. He framed it as targeting what he calls exploitation of the poor through staged or exaggerated “miracles,” pressure for tithes/offerings, and lavish lifestyles funded by congregations, while distinguishing this from belief in God or Jesus. Responses from some Pentecostal figures have been sharp. Pastor Robert Kayanja (of Miracle Centre Cathedral) and others pushed back, with reports of strong pulpit statements against Gashumba. The debate has drawn in family members (including Sheila Gashumba) and sparked wider discussion about accountability, prosperity teaching, and the line between genuine faith and fraud. This is not a new issue in Uganda or the wider region. There have been long-standing reports and investigations into staged miracles, fraud cases involving people posing as pastors (sometimes operating as traditional healers), high-profile scandals (such as the TB Joshua exposé), and historical tragedies like the Kanungu cult deaths. Police have periodically arrested individuals accused of using religious claims to defraud people. Responses to Baraka’s post have been mixed: support for the critique of exploitation, notes that he said “some” (not all) pastors, reminders of his Christian upbringing and past church involvement, and advice that he stick to music. He has previously commented on church matters, such as better treatment/pay for instrumentalists, and has described faith as important in his life. The discussion highlights a recurring tension: many people affirm personal belief and the idea that counterfeits exist alongside genuine practice, while criticizing specific practices of financial pressure, unverifiable claims, and lack of accountability. Others defend the ministries as authentic or view the challenges as attacks on faith itself. The conversation is still active as of today, with no public acceptance of Gashumba’s hospital challenge under the stated conditions reported so far. - @officialmedia_ug