ABSTRACT
On the morning of March 17, 2000, in Kanungu, Uganda, several hundred members of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God (MRTCG) died when a massive explosion ripped through their church. Even before detailed information emerged, media were drawing parallels between the deaths in Uganda and other recent collective "cult suicides". In the initial stages of the police investigation, fraud was quickly highlighted as the most likely motivation for the murder-suicides. Such concerns, along with descriptions of the apocalyptic fate awaiting the unrepentant, are expressed in A Timely Message to the World. Equally, account that points to external opposition playing a role in the MRTCG's dramatic denouement must square this with support it apparently enjoyed, possibly as a result of bribery and corruption. While Twesigye's account of the role played by the local Catholic Church in pushing the group's leadership towards an act of collective suicide is interesting, his argument contains a number of internal contradictions.
