I’m a self-confessed “nobody” amid a throng of fans standing on a red carpet at an “annual honor ceremony” for Uganda’s most prominent “prophet.” But I’m still being urged to pose for the cameras.
“You’re a dignitary,” one of the many minders of Elvis Mbonye tells me. I politely decline the offer.
Welcome to the world of the seemingly very public but yet very inaccessible Prophet Elvis Mbonye and his ever-expanding church, Zoe Fellowship Ministries. The 45-year-old was reported to be worth $115 million in 2020, in a country where per capita gross domestic product stands at around just $800. To some, his popularity he counts many of Uganda’s elite and, increasingly, those of other East African nations among his devotees is part of the growing “prosperity gospel” movement. It’s a theology contending that those who give to their faith and pastor will ultimately also receive material benefits. To others, his realm could also be described simply as PR