A pastor in western Uganda remains in a hospital intensive care unit after Muslim extremists poisoned him and a Christian couple, Morning Star News reported.
Pastor Francis Kutekereza, 51, was meeting for prayer with the couple, recent converts from Islam in Kigorobya Sub-County, Hoima District, on Nov. 24, when seven Muslims intruded into the house, the report said. 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.
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 couple reportedly had the same symptoms after five hours.
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.
Pastor Kutekereza, a married father of five children between the ages of 17 and 28, needs to transfer to a hospital with better equipment for proper diagnosis, Morning Star News reported. The pastor had led the couple to Christ in October after visiting them several times.
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.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and originally published by Morning Star News.
