Joseph Kibweteere

Who was Joseph Kibweteere?

Joseph Kibweteere was the leader of a doomsday cult that splintered from the Roman Catholic Church in Uganda.

Many details of Kibweteere's life, and especially death, remain unclear. What is known is that he came from a strongly pious Catholic background and was likely wealthy by Ugandan standards. The second idea comes from the fact he ran for political office in 1980 and had enough land to donate for a school of his own design. The Catholic school he founded and led was apparently orthodox and at that point he had a positive image in the community. In 1960 he married a woman who would prove to outlive him.

The Uganda he lived in suffered from both religious and political upheaval which likely influenced him. The strongest of which may have been religious movements that emphasized miracles and Marian apparitions. In 1984 he claimed to be experiencing sightings of the Virgin Mary. This vision had been brought to him by Credonia Mwerinde.

Around 1989 he came into contact with a woman named Credonia Mwerinde, a prostitute who claimed she was looking to repent for her sins. She had a background of claimed experiences dating back further than Kibwetree.