Pastor Sandra Baingana on why she lives everyday unapologetically large

2026-03-06 - 17:18

SANDRA BAINGANA is a renowned TikToker, pastor, interior designer and engineer, whose videos always start with, “Praise God...” before she takes her followers around her luxurious home and life, in her ‘My Marriage Diaries’. Born Sandra Nakaziba, she sat with Quick Talk at Taa Angavu Restaurant for an enlightening chat. I love the unique way you testify God’s goodness. What drove you to put yourself out there? I have been born again right from P.3. And as a child, I loved good things. Never in my life, even if I come from a poor background, have I ever thought I would be poor. I was willing to work hard to get there. Being in church, you hear people say, ‘I am the head and not the tail’, ‘I am above and not beneath’, ‘we are co-heirs with Christ’... Being a scientist, I love practical things, so I see people quote scripture, but they don’t manifest scripture. As a young girl, I began telling God, “If this Word is alive and active, bambi, it had better work for me.” You never saw yourself poor... That is a powerful mindset! It is in-built, hating bad things, and I used to hear, education leads you there. So, I remember thinking, if I am not number one, I don’t want those results. I used to be competitive in life, because I wanted to see [the good] life. Was that childhood in Kampala? Partly Jinja, partly Kampala. My parents come from a village called Wairaka – Mr Peter Mutara and Victoria Nanjobe. I was in Wairaka up to P.7, then I came with my dad to Kampala [her father lost his banking job in Jinja, and transferred to Kampala with her, to teach at Our Lady Consolata in Kireka]. I went to Consolata, then I went to...wait a minute...was I in the same school up to S.6? [She hilariously forgets the other school and spends a few minutes trying to recall it. The interview digresses into discussing brain fog, which Quick Talk also admits to occasionally getting] No...S.1 to S.4 I was in Kira Secondary School, then Consolata for S.5 and S.6. [She studied civil engineering at Kyambogo university]. At what point do you meet Mr Innocent Baingana? After university I became a single mum. To me, church is a must; so, one of these churches, I am a congregant and Mr Baingana [a mechanical/electrical engineer] is among the congregants [at Friends of Christ Church International in Kyanja]. He was a single dad. We met, fell in love and here we are! [They have been married eleven years]. Hmmm... those men still exist?! In church. I know many girls in church look around and the boys around are broke and they are like, where are the men going to come from! But God has His sons there. Sometimes your story looks like fiction. So, where is this house? I can’t disclose that. I am just in Uganda here; in a humble village, by the way. Was it easy being in a blended family? It was easy because the children were young. The oldest was five. I had one, he had three. Whose idea was the house? Did you find Mr Baingana with his elevators and pantries? [In one of her viral TikTok videos, Ps Sandra films herself pushing a trolley through her pantry collecting ingredients, the way some of us roll through supermarkets]. The idea was mine, being that I had the interior designing eye, loved nice things... I come from a background that is so poor to the point that we used to rare chicken but never ate the chicken. We rear them, dress them and a client comes and takes them. You only remain with the legs, intestines and the head. I would say, “Mummy, I want to eat some chicken”, and she would say, “No, we have to sell to the dot”. Mummy would boil the legs, intestines – me I would refuse to eat those things – mbu, “It has that soupish thing of chicken...” I would be like, “No; intestines fire!” [She narrates how at 12, she stole the biggest piece of chicken from her mother’s pot of chicken stew and was beaten, but had no regrets, because she just had to taste some chicken!] How did that influence the life you have now? So, I was like, when I grow up, whatever I sell, I must enjoy. I met my husband and asked him, “What do you do?” He was like, “I am into elevators”. And I was like, we must have an elevator in our house. I found him with a bungalow, but I told him somehow, we are going to erect a storied house here and have an elevator. I believe in living large and trusting God to provide more. The same God who gave me what I have can provide for tomorrow. I have seen your pantry; I would never guess that you have ever lacked! You know! It is breaking that mindset that when you buy sugar, you only have to drink tea in the morning, and then wait until the next morning... no evening tea. Me living everyday large is breaking that which I grew up in. And surprisingly, God has always increased us, the more we spend. Do you spend on only yourselves or are you also a giver? I give. Only that we who want our rewards from God, don’t show people what we have given. There are so many people dependent on me. Do your children bring their friends over? They do. And people ask me, why don’t you show us when you are hosting? This is privacy. The visitors and workers keep out of the camera. When you were coming here, did you go to the salon? Was your routine anywhere near normal, like ours? No, it’s not normal [bursts into laughter]. Like yesterday, I called someone to work on my nails because I would be here. In the evening I went for spa... ...at home? Yes. Downstairs. Praise God... Yes, praise God. I woke up in the morning, showered, went downstairs to the salon, made my hair from there, had breakfast by the dining, then drove out. Do you hold an administrative position in the elevator business? I would say I am an operations manager, though I am a co-CEO. My husband is big on hands-on work; I am more about, where is the money coming from, where is it going, why are you guys late... And now you have started interior designing. I think your house is going to intimidate certain clients... People carry that mentality, but I work within your budget. I come to your level. How is it going? I know it is a new business... It is overwhelming. I think being on social media for long has created a base for me. God was preparing me for clients before I came into business. What pushed me to open it, people began coming to me requesting me to come and do it for them... Eventually God gave me a goahead. So now you are installing elevators and pantries all over Uganda... Yes. Just know the schedule is very tight, but we work according to your budget. What is the name of your church? The Road to Redemption ministries in Namuwongo near Mogas. I have been in ministry for six years. I came out to talk about ministry from a dimension of being a single mum. People started following me a certain way and after lockdown, God called me into fulltime ministry and that is how I diversified and the Road to Redemption ministries was born. How do you deal with the trolls? The trolls are too late. Sincerely speaking, what would you abuse me and it would hurt me? How do you prepare the children for the trolls? They are not on social media. It is only my 18-year-old who just got a phone when he turned 18. Huh? I thought they have gadgets... everyone with a TV in their room... No, we are very strict parents. Even TV is controlled in our home. We have family movies; you can’t find our child just scrolling. We teach them to be watched, and not to watch others. When they are not in school, they go for violin lessons, guitar lessons, they play football, swim, read books, my daughter is learning how to do hair... They know how to cook. [Quick Talk requests Pastor Baingana to pray for us – Ashley Aisha Aine was recording video – and she launches into a preaching session before praying for us and departing.] Watch the full episode below: