Evangelists Sustain Knife Wounds after Debates in Uganda

Andrew Dikusooka and Ronald Musasizi received hospital treatment after being knifed in Iganga Disrict, Uganda. (Morning Star News)

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – Two evangelists on Sept. 24 sustained deep knife wounds after leading several Muslims to Christ at debates on Islam and Christianity in eastern Uganda, sources said.

Andrew Dikusooka, 35, and 26-year-old Ronald Musasizi had debated Islamic scholars in several areas around Iganga District, and some attacked them after a Sept. 20-24 series of such debates in the district’s predominantly Muslim Nampirika village, said a leader of their ministry, unnamed for security reasons.

“The two evangelists are nursing terrible wounds on their sick beds in Iganga town after being attacked and beaten by radical Muslims,” the leader told Morning Star News.

Dikusooka said that after the last day of the debate, well-known Muslims were among those who put their faith in Christ.

“Many people gave their lives to Christ, including Muslims, witchdoctors and street vendors,” Dikusooka told Morning Star News. “The conversion of these people angered Muslims who began shouting to disrupt the occasion. When the meeting ended, we took the new converts aside and had a few minutes explaining the meaning of the new life in Christ and the commitment to follow Jesus Christ.”

They were halfway home at about 7:30 p.m. when a group of Muslims blocked them near a railroad crossing shouting, “They are the ones – beat them, beat them,” he said.

“They then started beating us with blunt objects, and one named Shafiki Mugendawala from Nasuuti, in Iganga, hit me with a sharp knife right on my head,” Dikusooka told Morning Star News. “Another named Musiitwa Manisuuli from Kigulu Iganga, struck my friend in the belly and hands.”

He knew the assailants because they had debated them on several occasions, he said.

“Both of us fell down as a bright light flashed from a coming vehicle that appeared from the opposite direction,” he said. “From that time onwards, we did not know what happened. We only found ourselves in the hospital in Iganga town with deep wounds.”

The driver of the vehicle was the one who rescued them and drove them to the hospital, they later learned.

At this writing the two evangelists were still recovering in the hospital.

“Since we know the attackers, after our release from the hospital we shall by all means file a case against them,” Dikusooka said. “Please pray for us for quick healing.”

The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.

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.

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