Uganda: Evangelistic preacher who publicly debated Muslims killed
By Mark Ellis, Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
UGANDA (June 17, 2016)
-- A bold and courageous evangelistic preacher in eastern Uganda who
had received death threats from Muslims following fiery religious
debates was killed on June 4, 2016, according to Morning Star News.
The
body of Yokannah Zirinkuma was found in a pool of blood in Kadama
village, near the home of the primary suspect. Zirinkuma was 50.
He
was well known in the area for his evangelistic preaching in the
marketplace and several Muslims had come to faith in Christ through his
messages. Two weeks before his murder, Zirinkuma had engaged Muslims in
Kasasira village in open debate that became heated.
He later received a threatening letter from unknown Muslims.
“You
should stop misleading Muslims, and if you fail to adhere to this, then
you will face the judgment sword from Allah,” a letter in Arabic warned
him. A former Muslim (name withheld) whom Zirinkuma led to Christ
translated the letter, the convert told Morning Star News.
The evening before his death, June 3, Zirinkuma attended a seminar at Kadama Church of Uganda, which ended at 5 p.m.
“Yokannah
mentioned to me that three Muslims from his village followed him till
he entered the church for the seminar, and that he did not know where
they went after that,” Pastor Samuel Keffa, who led the seminar, told
Morning Star News. “He looked fearful for his life.”
After
the seminar, a Muslim from Kadama village, Ibrahim Mwede, approached
Zirinkuma as he talked with the pastor. Mwede asked if he could
interrupt to talk about his cassava business, and they began discussing
it.
Mwede
said some villagers had some cassava they wanted to sell, and he asked
if Zirinkuma would go with him to talk about buying the cassava, which
is an edible tuberous root.
Mwede
told Zirinkuma that he could spend the night at his house, as the
evening was getting late. Zirinkuma accepted the offer and went away
with Mwede.
A
neighbor of Mwede heard a commotion at about 3 a.m. near Mwede’s house,
along with an unusual cry. Another neighbor reported that someone had
been killed and the body dumped a few meters from Mwede’s house.
Christians
rushed to the site and found Zirinkuma’s body lying in a pool of blood.
After they reported the case to police, officers arrested Mwede for
interrogation.
A
police officer told Morning Star News that Mwede has been charged with
murder and has been remanded to jail for one year awaiting trial.
The
body was taken to Kadama Hospital, where Dr. Fred Awiny conducted an
autopsy. The autopsy concluded that Zirinkuma’s body showed signs
consistent with murder – several injury marks suggesting a struggle, and
ligature marks on the neck indicating he was strangled.
Zirinkuma, a widower, is survived by two daughters, ages 22 and 17.
About
85 percent of the people in Uganda are Christian and 11 percent Muslim,
with some eastern areas having large Muslim populations. The country’s
constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the
right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another.
For more stories from Morning Star News, go here
Photo
captions: 1) The body of Yokannah Zirinkuma. (Morning Star News). 2)
His two daughters, 22 and 17, mourn the death of their father. (Morning
Star News). 3) Mark Ellis.
About the writer: Mark Ellis is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net), and also founder of www.GodReports.com,
a website that shares stories, testimonies and videos from the church
around the world. He is also co-host for "Widows on the World" with ANS
Founder, Dan Wooding, which is airred weeekly on the Holy Spirit
Broadcasting Network (http://hsbn.tv).
** You may republish this or any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Servicce (www.assistnews.net).
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