False: Pastor Bugingo Of House of Prayer Ministries International Hasn’t Launched “Holy Soda” at UGX 50,000

An X post by the Kampala Journal News (KJNews), an online platform claiming that Pastor Aloysius Bugingo,  launched  “holy soda” that costs fifty thousand Ugandan shillings (UGX 50,000) for a bottle, is FALSE.

A photo collage of the pastor and a few other people posing with cartons of soda was attached to the post, garnering up to about 746.5K Views, 2.5k Likes, 664 Reposts and 1k Comments. 

“Pastor Aloysius Niyonzima Bugingo launches holy soda where each bottle costs UGX 50,000. According to the pastor, whoever sips on this soda is entitled to space in heaven and earthly blessings and that their businesses shall thrive and triple the profits.” the post reads.

The Background

On November 3rd, 2024, House of Prayer Ministry International joined in to celebrate Salt Media’s 10th anniversary. 

The celebrations were live-streamed and a video was posted on their  YouTube account. In Uganda, it is not a celebration if there are not plenty of drinks and food. It would leave everyone talking. So drinks and food were served. 

In the YouTube video timestamp (30:09), Pastor Bugingo, who’s dressed in a white coat and shirt, told the congregation that there was a lot of food and asked them to pack some for their family members. The drinks were left to be taken for the rest who were to attend lunch hours services until they were finished. 

Evidence: 

KJNews whose post we are fact-checking claims to be “The Truth Command Center” and yet we continue to find their content questionable as seen and fact-checked here, here and here by an X user, in all cases, the news platform falls short of facts.

With such a track record we had to dive into yet another claim by the same account.

A Google Reverse Image search of the gridded picture will lead you to similar claims by different accounts on different social media platforms as seen here, here, here, and here, as well as one of Pastor Bugingo’s TikTok accounts explaining more about the sodas during a lunch hour service held on November 18th, 2024 after the celebrations here. The same video is also pinned on Salt Media’s X account.

KJNews post claims that Pastor Bugingo said that drinking the soda would guarantee the congregation a place in heaven and boost their businesses to thrive.

However, according to the video that Pastor Bugingo posted on his TikTok account, he prayed that the soda may not only quench their thirst but also heal any blood diseases as they drink it, for after it has been prayed over, it will be sanctified. 

The service was held in Luganda, a common dialect in Uganda. The first part of the video content translates to; 

“On Sunday, in your absentia, we managed to bring the soda that remained from the Salt anniversary. Salt at 10. I promised during the fasting period not to serve the soda but to wait till the next Sunday when it is done for us to do so. The remaining soda can be taken by about two thousand five hundred to thirty thousand people. So we first served the soda on Sunday and we prayed over it as we usually did with the juice and any other elements that we tend to use for holy communion. This time we believe that those going to drink this soda, it will be like holy communion, like the blood of our Lord Jesus. Let it be soda that quenches your thirst and heals the diseases in your blood system. Give a mighty hand clap to the Lord.”

Nothing here says that the soda entitles the congregation to a place in heaven or even a way to bless their businesses, as alleged by KJNews. 

Did Bugingo sell the anointed soda at UGX 50,000?

The caption further alleges that the soda goes for UGX 50,000  for a bottle; however, in the same video that Pastor Bugingo shared, he declared the soda to be free for anyone to drink, and that he never charges people for God’s gifts.

“Kimanyidwa ku record nti ekimu ku bya nyanjula Mu Kampala kulwanyisa basumba kutudda birabo byakatonda. Kili ku record.  Kakubele kuyingila bisabwe, ffe wetutegeka ejili okuyingila kubera kwa bwerere. Kagabere mafuta agasigibwa agakutula ebikoligo, ffe amafuta tugaba ga’bwerere….” he continued to speak in the video

Translating to;

“It is on record that one of the things that introduced me into Kampala was fighting pastors who sell God’s gifts. It’s on record. Whether it’s entering a stadium, when we organize a crusade entrance is free, even if it’s anointing oil, we give it out free of charge…”

According to Enan Rwaboona, the pastor was not selling the soda, it was free.

“Stop spreading false information. The man of God is not selling soda, it’s free you can go and drink it too if you are jealous or leave it to those who believe it’s useful,” he said in an X post.

Martin Musinguzi, another believer, said in his X post that he was there when the sodas were given out free of charge.

 “But honestly I watched him clearly giving out free soda of what was left during 10 years of salt media. How do you feel miss informing people and tarnishing someone’s name ?” reads his post

With his eyes closed in the shared photos, we again see him and other assistant pastors praying for the sodas to be the blood of Jesus after the order of holy communion based on the scripture of 1 Corinthians 11:22-24 KJV.

1 Corinthians 11:23-25

23. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the [same] night in which he was betrayed took bread: 
24. And when he had given thanks, he brakes [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 
25. After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this does ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me.

Among other reasons, born-again Christians believe that the blood of Jesus can heal their diseases which is why they pray over their drinks to become the blood of Jesus.

Verdict 

False, Pastor Bugingo did not launch “Holy Soda” at a cost of UGX 50,000 for a bottle. He gave out anointed soda to the congregation as a form of holy communion (blood) free of charge as shown in the evidence. Therefore disregard the claims made by KJNews and other accounts that suggest otherwise.