The Muslims killed the evangelists after leading several Muslims to faith in Christ at an outdoor event held in eastern Uganda last month, sources said.
David Washum of Mangasel in Mungama district of the Nabumari Town Council of Mbale district was stabbed to death after returning from a three-day sermon in Nalond, Bwarasi and Nabumari districts on April 3, local sources said. He was 38 years old.
Along with fellow evangelist Fred Wepful, Washm introduced Quran poetry and biblical references in his sermons, highlighting the divinity of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet, and the humanity of Muhammad. Washume spoke in the town of Nabumali on the third day of the campaign.
“On the third day, the attendance increased, and he demanded a response of killing sin, killing sin, hostile to Christ and Satan, and their voices were lifted into heaven with songs.” “Many people responded, including several Muslims who accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. However, some Muslims began crying out in protest, and the two evangelists left and entered their friends’ houses.”
Washume and Wepuhulu had returned to the Nabumali area on the night of April 3 when they were attacked around 10pm, Wepuhulu said.
“As we approached the village, we met three masked men dressed as Muslims while speaking Arabic,” Wepuhulu told Morning Star News. “They told us to stop us and give up our bags.”
The assailants found the Bible and the Qur’an in Washm’s bags, he said.
“We cried out in our local language, ‘They are on one side, they… kill, they kill them!”, Wepuhulu said. “We found ourselves in the midst of radical Muslims. I wrestled with one of them, who was holding me tightly, but managed to get away. My friend, who was hugged by the two men, couldn’t.
Moses Kutoshi, chairman of Nabumali Town Council’s Local Council 3, said he received a call at 6am the following day informing him of the body in a pool of blood near the Bible University Chapel in Nabumali.
“I immediately went to the scene of the incident and found the body of a resident friend, Washume,” Kutosi told Morning Star News. “I was surprised and terrified, so I called the police, who came in a few hours later.”
The body was taken to a funeral in Mbale city for his death, Kutoshi said.
Washume’s relatives said his body had wounds on his neck and chest.
“The knife the assailants used to kill him was found at the scene of the crime. “You, the Pagans, Allah will meet Allah at the judgement,” a relative said, including written notes containing other Arabic words that they could not understand.
Kutosi said Washume is a good, hardworking and dedicated Christian and a member of the private church in Mbale city.
Police and community members conducted a intensive search for the murderer, officers told Morning Star News.
The attack was the latest in many examples of persecution of Christians in Ugandan that Star News documented that morning.
The Uganda constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to spread faith and to transform from one faith to another. Muslims make up less than 12% of Uganda’s population, and the eastern part of the country has high concentration.
