By Aaron Sseruyigo
KAMPALA – For years Nakawa Division Mayor, Eng. Ronald Nsubuga Balimwezo turned a deaf ear to friends and pastor who approached him with the message of salvation, until he experienced a first-hand encounter with the Truth.
Even though he is a well-established politician in Uganda today, Eng. Ronald Nsubuga Balimwezo will use any opportunity he has to share his incredible journey from being a skeptical youngster — an exploration that forced him to question absolutely everything, including his childhood faith.
Addressing hundreds of Christians at Pneuma Word Ministries International in Kyanja, Kampala recently, the engineer by profession said God changed my life and that He is till this day transforming many who have put their trust and confidence in Him.
Way back in 2000, Mayor Nsubuga was involved in a terrible accident on his way back home from work. “I was on a motor bike, and a car hit me . I went up in the air, on coming back my leg was off. So I have an artificial limb,” he said.
That aside, Nsubuga still survived death when armed men attacked him in a home-invasion robbery. This robbery happened days after he had encountered a Christian woman who testified of being healing by God of HIV.
“I doubted the healing but the pastor told me if God could raise Lazarus from the dead, what about healing HIV,” Mayor Nsubuga told believers. “I later encountered armed robbers and the whole experienced changed my perception towards life and believing in God.”
“I tried to fight them off, but in the process, the robber fired one shot. The bullet missed my head by a mere few inches. From then, I never underestimate God’s power. I knew it was more than human effort that got me through that incident. I must have been empowered by the Holy Spirit,” he said.
“I vividly heard a voice telling me; you doubted if I could heal HIV, have you witnessed how I saved you from a bullet that kills instantly,” the former lecturer at Kyambogo University explained.
Looking back, Nsubuga now realizes that he didn’t know at the time who Jesus truly is, and that he assumed — based on his experiences — that Jesus can’t save.
Police later identified the gun used by the criminals during the robbery as one that went missing over 3 months.
“When the security official asked me how I survived the ordeal and came out alive, I told them I didn’t have the power to put the robbers down, it was by Jesus’ power. That is now I fully came to embrace Christ into my heart,” he said.
Later during a crusade organised by American missionaries in the country, Mayor Nsubuga says he responded to an altar call and received Christ as his personal Lord and Saviour.
“I had neglected the gospel for a while, but God Himself dealt with me,” he said, sparking applause from the audience.
