Whether healing miracles are genuine or fake, is a subject of contention in many circles. In some videos on social media, ‘men of God’ are seen apparently performing miracles dubiously, thereby drawing public wrath.
Obviously, some of these videos are staged, but the public cannot tell, because they are not shared with captions and explanations.
Interestingly, some of these videos, while unbelievably inconceivable, are real reflections of the actual process of divine healing.
In fact, those who bundle and dismiss all these videos as fake might not be familiar with biblical healing.
The Bible in 2 Kings 5 has a story of a leper called Naaman who was the Ugandan version of a CDF (Chief of Defence Forces) of a nation called Aram.
Imagine this leper, on video, dipping in a swamp seven times and coming out thereafter, with his skin as smooth as a baby’s? Yet, this is exactly what happened when Naaman did as instructed by Prophet Elisha, in order to be healed.
Wouldn’t this have been labelled as a fake miracle by some? John 9:1-12 has another story of Jesus mixing mud and some water, which he rubbed on the eyes of a blind man, and he started seeing.
It is highly likely that such a video clip in this day and age would have drawn angst and dissent over its authenticity.
This miracle was so contentious that even when the parents of this blind man confirmed that he had been born blind, there was bitterness and anger from the Pharisees.
This is proof that miracles cause divisions and conflict, even when they have been confirmed, beyond reasonable doubt, to be true. It is interesting that the authorities of the day desperately tried to pacify their unbelief by bullying, intimidating, threatening, and overwhelming the parents of this blind man into denying the miracle.
Obviously, some of these shocking videos have fake miracles with the ulterior motive of misleading and duping unsuspecting members of the public.
However, authorities usually jump on them to make sweeping disapproving statements about divine healing. They are used as an opportunity to character assassinate miracles and paint faith in divine healing as a dangerous threat to the safety of Ugandans. It is not easy to find genuine miracles receiving similar mileage, acknowledgement, and attention.
On the other hand, misleading videos are used to preach against the faith movement. In some cases authorities go as far as threatening believers with censure, and laws that will curtail their decision to practice their faith in divine healing.
As an example, in June 2025, the Directorate of Ethics in the Office of the President held a consultative meeting with Members of Parliament, judges, and officials from entities like the Uganda Human Rights Commission and the Inspector General of Government’s office.
The purpose of this meeting rotated around support towards enacting legislation against churches that dupe unsuspecting members about the possibilities of divine healing.
The Bible, in several portions of scripture says that when Jesus laid hands on the sick, they got well. In fact, in Mark 16: 17-18, Jesus instructs his followers to lay hands on the sick and they will recover.
As a result of this instruction, many testimonies about divine healing abound. While some miracles are faked, genuine ones are in plenty. The clear stand for some of these authorities, however, is that divine healing shouldn’t be promoted.
These voices are often filled with reprimand and suggest that promoting divine healing misleads the public. On deeper reflection, such assertions seek to force believers into laying down their faith, at the feet of their ill-conceived logical conclusions. They usually claim the constitutional freedom of faith wasn’t given boundaries.
They do not realise that they are seeking to divert believers from the gospel of Christ to a gospel that agrees with their beliefs. In other words, they want to take the place of God so they decide the rules as to how worship is conducted. Believers need to be careful in assenting to the deception of these assertions.
The seeming concern for some of these individuals is that some lives have been lost in the process of seeking divine healing. This is true. However, far more lives have been lost in the process of seeking mainstream medical healing.
The freedom of faith means that people should feel free to believe in, and seek, any form of healing without persecution for their faith.
Thinking that one faith is superior to another is okay, but designing laws to force those who do not subscribe to a certain faith to do so, is persecution; it is abuse of the constitution; it is abuse of human rights.
Believers should be free to practice their faith as accorded by the Constitution of Uganda without having the need to explain themselves to anyone, regardless of the outcome of their decision.