Martin Ssempa (born 1968) is a Ugandan-American pastor and founder of Makerere Community Church. He is an activist who has lead crusades to rid Uganda of sodomy, endorsing the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014.
The bill was signed into law by the President of Uganda on 24 February 2014. On 1 August 2014, however, the Constitutional Court of Uganda ruled the Act invalid on procedural grounds.
In 2015, Pastor Ssempa was sought after by American private investigators under a company called Magineto that was hired to locate and lead his to America for questioning.
Last week, through an advert that run in Wednesday’s New Vision, the United States Court for the District of Massachusetts through a Ugandan based law firm called Onyango and Company Advocates, issued a statement again, reminding him of his subpoena.
He is wanted as a principal witness in a Civil Law suit against another controversial pastor Scott Lively who stands accused of crimes against humanity by a group of Ugandans.
The LGBT advocacy group which lodged the lawsuit in the US claims that Lively, a US national, persecuted them for their sexual beliefs. Ssempa is not himself a target of the lawsuit, but as a close ally of Lively, he has successfully been listed as a principal witness.
The group, alleges that Lively conspired with Ugandan religious and political leaders since 2002 to strip gays of their rights in that country that has resulted in housing and employment discrimination, arrest, torture and the murder of gays and lesbians.
Lively, who became a born-again Christian in 1986 and started focusing on homosexuality in 1991, speaking to media sources says he “rejects the things that do not comport with the Bible and the kingdom of God.” A brochure on his website says the Bible “identifies rampant homosexuality in society as the harbinger of God’s wrath.”
With a law degree, he says he is motivated by love, not hate. “It’s putting forward a truth that will allow them not to participate in something that could hurt them,” he said, referring to LGBT people.
He said that the accusations against him are unfounded and exaggerated and that his comments on homosexuality are protected by the First Amendment. “Free speech does not end at the border,” he said.
He said he is confident he’ll prevail in court and has no intention of changing his message.
“I’m not allowing anyone to stop me from defending biblical truth,” he said. “I’ll stand for the truth of God if it costs me my life.”
He is represented by Liberty Counsel, a Christian law firm that also represents Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who was recently jailed for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He’s never met Davis but said he admires her “courage and commitment.”
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Cover File Photo (2014) by Dominic Bukenya – Pastor Martin Sempa speaks to journalists at high court.
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