Watoto Child Care Ministries (WCCM), a U.S.-registered charity closely linked to Watoto Church in Uganda, is under increasing scrutiny over its governance arrangements amid disclosures showing extensive overlap between leadership roles in its American and Ugandan entities.
Publicly available records reveal a concentration of authority among founders, relatives, and senior staff, with several individuals simultaneously holding positions as board members, officers, and paid employees across both organizations. Governance specialists say such structures can weaken independence, limit effective oversight, and heighten the risk of conflicts of interest.
According to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 990 filings and U.S. state charity records, Watoto Church founder Garry Skinner remains listed as a U.S. board member and an “interested person” in major transfers of funds from the U.S. organization to Uganda. This is despite earlier public statements indicating that Skinner had stepped back from day-to-day leadership of the Ugandan church.
The filings also name Skinner’s son, James Skinner, as a director, alongside Eugene Stutzman, who serves concurrently as both a board member and Chief Executive Officer. Other senior staff appearing in governance or oversight roles include Valerie King (Chief Finance Officer), Brent Smith (Director of Development and Fundraising), and Julius Rwotlonyo, head of Watoto in Uganda, who is likewise identified as an interested person in U.S.-to-Uganda transfers.
Rwotlonyo’s dual position underscores the close integration of leadership between the two entities. The records further show that Brent Smith, one of the organization’s highest-paid employees and a senior fundraiser, earns more than the Chief Executive Officer—an arrangement governance experts describe as unusual for large U.S. public charities.
Smith is also listed as a voting board member, placing him in a position to influence governance decisions while serving as a paid executive. Experts note that such dual roles are atypical and can undermine board independence.
Other members of the WCCM U.S. board include Tom Hanover, Allan Leary, and Garry Scherer. Filings suggest that a substantial share of voting directors are insiders or compensated executives, reducing the level of independent oversight.
Watoto Child Care Ministries, which works closely with Watoto Church Uganda, operates village-based communities providing schools, churches, medical facilities, and homes for orphans and widows. U.S. tax records show the American arm raises millions of dollars annually, transferring the bulk of those funds to its Ugandan affiliate, which is led by many of the same individuals.
For 2024, WCCM reported total U.S. revenue of $7,574,158 from grants, domestic and foreign donations, member contributions, and other income. Thirteen individuals are listed as board members, several of whom also serve as officers, key employees, or among the highest-paid staff.
Among them are Rwotlonyo, president of the Ugandan organization and a U.S. board member reportedly contributing two hours per week; Garry Skinner, also listed as working two hours weekly; and James Skinner with similar reported time commitments. Other disclosures, however, suggest some officials may work up to 40 hours per week, raising questions among legal analysts about compliance with U.S. visitor visa rules and whether the U.S. entity is effectively directed from abroad.
In 2023, Garry Skinner and his wife Marilyn, founders of Watoto Church—formerly Kampala Pentecostal Church—formally transferred leadership to Julius Rwotlonyo and his wife Vernita after four decades in charge.
Additional board members named in U.S. filings include Scott Young (Vice President), Ben Wendland (Secretary), Philip Wagner, Corey Wall, Sharon Kelly, Roland Mitchell, Treasa Conrad, and Eugene Stutzman.
Reviews of the governance structure indicate that multiple board members are also employees who take part in decisions on compensation and finances. Governance experts warn that this may conflict with the spirit of U.S. nonprofit regulations designed to prevent excess benefit transactions and safeguard public trust.
Sources familiar with the organization say that although Garry Skinner retired from leadership roles in Uganda, he continues to serve on the U.S. board and remains an interested party in wire transfers from the United States to Uganda.
During Watoto’s September 2025 tour in Washington State, a local advocacy group, Seattle Gay News, contacted the state’s charities regulator and was informed that WCCM was not registered to solicit charitable donations in the state at the time.
Governance analysts note that because the U.S. arm generates much of Watoto’s global funding, robust oversight of the American entity is especially important, particularly when substantial funds are sent to affiliated foreign organizations. U.S. regulators often examine such arrangements to ensure transparency, accountability, and independence.
These governance concerns follow a recent legal setback in Uganda. The Uganda Tax Appeals Tribunal (TAT) dismissed, with costs, Watoto Child Care Ministries’ challenge to a Shs594 million tax assessment related to imported services.
In a unanimous ruling, the tribunal found that payments made to service providers constituted income of Watoto Child Care Ministries, even when donors or partner offices paid those providers directly. The tribunal held that the payments were made at Watoto’s direction and for its benefit, making them taxable as Ugandan-sourced income.
In its November 28, 2025 decision, the tribunal further ruled that the non-resident service providers earned income under Ugandan-source service contracts and that Watoto Child Care Ministries had properly withheld and remitted withholding tax to the Uganda Revenue Authority.
