Evangelist Slain for Leading Muslims to Christ in Uganda
An eyewitness said that after the evangelistic event in Kituuti town, Philip Bere was pulled from his bicycle while returning to Katiryo, Kibuku District, and killed when the assailants bashed him with a large rock.
An eyewitness said that after the evangelistic event in Kituuti town, Philip Bere was pulled from his bicycle while returning to Katiryo, Kibuku District, and killed when the assailants bashed him with a large rock.
Mudenya Sirasi, who had assisted Bere at the evangelistic event, was with him as the two neared Katiryo on the Kataka-Katiryo road. Sirasi said many people, including Muslim women and two young Muslim men, accepted Christ at the event.
The two evangelists were ambushed at about 7:40 p.m., he said.
Bere fell as Sirasi jumped off the bike and entered a tunnel under a bridge, where he hid, he said.
“I could see the attackers brutally injuring my friend,” Sirasi said. “One of the attackers hit him with a big stone, and he bled to death.”
When the assailants left, Sirasi found the body of Bere in a pool of blood, he said. He alerted other area Christians and police, and officers took the body to a hospital for postmortem, Sirasi said.
The pastor of Bere’s church, unnamed for security reasons, said officers at the police station in Katiryo, Kibukuand, took statements about the killing of the evangelist and that they were searching for the killers, who had gone into hiding.
Bere was well-known for preaching among Muslims in Buseeta, Lwatama, Katiryo, and other parts of eastern Uganda.
Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one religion to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country.
