The disturbing treatment of Francis Kutekereza and this convert couple illustrates yet again how conversion to Christianity is so often the occasion for persecution of Christians — both of the converts and of those who brought the converts the word of the Gospel.
Among the Christians of Uganda are around 35,000 Orthodox Christians.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of Christian persecution in Uganda, see here.
“Pastor, Christian Couple Poisoned in Western Uganda,” Morning Star News, January 5, 2023:
NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – A pastor in western Uganda remains in a hospital Intensive Care Unit after Muslim extremists poisoned him and a Christian couple on Nov. 24, sources said.
Pastor Francis Kutekereza, 51, was meeting for prayer with the couple, recent converts from Islam in Kigorobya Sub-County, Hoima District, at 6 p.m. when seven Muslims intruded into the house, said the husband, whose name is withheld for security reasons.
Led by a local Muslim extremist, the group began trying to force them to eat cooked bananas laced with a fungicide that causes ptomaine poisoning, the husband said.
“It was a real struggle in the house,” the husband, 27, told Morning Star News. “Three men held the pastor, and the remaining four were on our necks. We took some little pieces of bananas before escaping, but the pastor could not escape.”
Nearby neighbors joined in their cries for help, and the assailants fled after having kicked and beaten the pastor, he said.
Within three hours, Pastor Kutekereza was suffering nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea. The husband and his wife, 23, had the same symptoms after five hours, he said.
The couple received treatment at a Kigorobya health clinic for three weeks and were released on Dec. 14, but the pastor remains in critical condition. He was transferred to a hospital in Hoima.
“The pastor is still battling for his life in the hospital bed,” said a Morning Star News contact. “He has a swollen stomach, swollen legs and swollen face that has affected his walking and vision.”…
