Last week bulldozers demolished the church in which the 530 cult members were burned to death, their bodies charred beyond recognition. Piles of masonry at the four corners where it once stood are the only evidence that it ever existed. The new world is supposed to be heaven. And according to the cult leaders they would be transported there by an ark when, come the end of the Millennium, the earth would be ravaged by great floods. When that day never came, some of the disciples are thought to have asked for the return of cash and valuables they had rendered to their masters.
Police believe that from then on their fate was sealed.
Their demands led to the killings. Since March 17, when the bodies in the church were discovered, mass graves have been uncovered at the cult's smaller transit camp in remote south-western Uganda. The authorities, who believe that up to 4,000 more bodies may yet be found, have become overwhelmed by the enormity of the task before them and are appealing for international help. Not all the dead, as previously assumed, are members of the Millennial sect, The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God. The Express has learned that some now appear to be relatives who were silenced when they dared to make inquiries about their missing loved ones.