Uganda: Pastor killed after a debate between Christians and Muslims

An interfaith theological debate turned tragic on the night of Saturday, July 18. Bernard Mulongo, a 25-year-old pastor, was brutally murdered by a group of armed men. The prime suspect is none other than the imam with whom he had debated just hours earlier.

What was meant to be a space for the exchange of ideas turned into a deadly trap. Bernard Mulongo, pastor at the New Restoration Church of Christ in the Butebo district, leaves behind a devastated wife and two young children, aged only 4 and 7.

It all began during an open-air interfaith dialogue organized in the town of Mbale. According to witnesses, the young pastor was particularly eloquent and persuasive. Tensions escalated when two influential Muslim women publicly announced their conversion to Christianity following the discussions.

This outcome was completely unacceptable to Imam Hassan Musa, one of the participants in the debate. According to Pastor David Omala, who was also present, the imam unleashed his rage immediately after the incident, even going so far as to directly threaten the victim.

“Bernard, you deserve death for your blasphemous acts and for leading our people towards this false religion. It is not right that you use the holy book, the Quran, to mislead our members,” Imam Musa reportedly said, while calling for violence against the Christian community.

Unaware of the imminent danger, Pastor Mulongo then went to a local radio station to continue the discussions on the airwaves.

It was on the return journey, towards the end of the evening, that the tragedy unfolded. While the pastor was traveling by motorcycle with his friend Robert Mukisa to their lodgings, they were chased about fifteen kilometers from Mbale, near the village of Jami. Several men on motorcycles overtook them before abruptly cutting them off.

“One of them shouted, ‘You have misled our people into joining your evil religion and you have defiled our holy book!’” Robert Mukisa told Morning Star News. “I panicked, got off the motorcycle, and ran for my life while the attackers held my friend.”

After running for more than two kilometers to escape his attackers, the survivor alerted the police and the pastor's relatives. But it was already too late. Arriving at the scene, the victim's father and Pastor Omala could only confirm the tragedy: Bernard Mulongo's body lay lifeless in a pool of blood, bearing multiple deep wounds to his head, chest, back, and hand.

The body of the young religious was transported to the Mbale morgue for autopsy before being handed over to his family for burial in his native village of Petete.

Currently, Imam Hassan Musa is the prime suspect in this case. He is actively being sought and is on the run, according to local sources.

Although Ugandan police have opened a thorough investigation, no arrests have yet been made.

The victim's family, in shock, demands that justice be served as soon as possible and that all those responsible for this heinous act be arrested and punished according to the law.

Although the Ugandan Constitution guarantees freedom of worship and the right to change religion, these episodes of violent religious intolerance continue to claim victims in the Eastern region, where the majority of the country's Muslim population is concentrated (representing approximately 12% of the national population).