NANSOLOLO, Uganda — A pastor in eastern Uganda was hacked to death in December 2015 as he and other church members resisted an effort by Muslims to take over their land, area church leaders said.
In Nansololo village near Mazuba, in Namudumba District, Muslims erected a boundary fence with poles and barbed wire that included land of the Pentecostal Church Ministry (PCM), a church elder said. A church member who lives close to the church building called Pastor Bongo Martin, who immediately came to the site.
“Why are you encroaching on the church’s land and removing the boundary marks?” Martin asked. A church member said the Muslim leader answered, “We have told you many times that we do not want the church to be located near our mosque. Your church has been taking our members to your church.” A Muslim named Abdulhakha Mugen then drew his sword and struck the pastor’s neck, church members said. Martin, 32, was then decapitated.
PCM has documents showing it bought the disputed land from Kamya Ephraim for $1,000, a church leader said.
The church intended to establish an orphanage in the center of Nansololo, but plans are now on hold.
About 85 percent of the people in Uganda are Christian and 11 percent Muslim, with some eastern areas having large Muslim populations.
(MS)
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