The Kanungu Cult: Uganda's Deadliest Mass Murder

On March 17, 2000, hundreds of people gathered inside a church in the remote district of Kanungu, Uganda. They believed they were about to witness the end of the world and ascend to heaven. Instead, the church burst into flames, killing everyone inside.

As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered mass graves hidden across the countryside. Entire families had vanished. Children had disappeared. What was first believed to be a tragic religious suicide soon revealed itself as something far darker: one of the deadliest cult massacres in modern history.

In this episode of The African Underbelly, we examine the rise of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, the charismatic leaders who convinced hundreds to surrender their lives and pos ...