Christians make up around 85% of Uganda’s population. There is a tiny minority of around 35,000 Orthodox Christians in that nation. Converts to Christianity and Christians who proselytize are often targeted and harassed.
For previous coverage of Christian persecution in Uganda, see here.
“Hardline Muslims Kill Evangelist at Open-Air Event,” Morning Star News, March 8, 2022:
NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Hardline Muslims who grew furious at the preaching of a speaker at an open-air evangelistic event last week in eastern Uganda beat him to death and burned his body, sources said.
John Michael Okero was quoting verses from the Koran about Christ on Feb. 28 in Kadungulu village, Serere District when a Muslim identified only as Shakuuru grabbed the microphone from him. He and other Muslims started beating Okero as they accused him of blaspheming Allah by saying that he has a Son, misinterpreting the Koran, touching the Koran without ritual cleansing and disrespecting it by placing it under the Bible, an area source told Morning Star News by phone.
They beat him to death with iron bars, stones and sticks and later burned his body to a chant in the Ateso language referring to a thief who steals people from one religion to join a bad religion, the source said. Okero was 43.
Police were called but arrived after the assailants had fled, the source said. Officers began a manhunt….
Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.
