07/24/2026
Young Pastor Killed after Religious Debate in Uganda
Suspects include imam who said he deserved to die, sources say.
By Our East Africa Correspondent
NAIROBI, Kenya, July 24, 2026 (Morning Star News) – An imam who debated a pastor at an interfaith dialogue in Uganda is a suspect in the killing of the church leader after the event on Saturday (July 18), sources said.
Bernard Mulongo, a 25-year-old pastor at New Restoration Church of Christ in Butebo District, was killed nine miles from Mbale in Jami village late that night, his traveliing companion said. He is survived by his wife and two children, ages 4 and 7.
A pastor present at the interfaith dialogue and debate, David Omala, said Imam Hassan Musa was angry with the Pastor Mulongo after the event, at which two prominent Muslim women publicly converted to Christianity.
Pastor Mulongo spoke convincingly at the debate, and afterward Musa warned him, “Bernard, you deserve death for blasphemous deeds and leading our people to that false religion. It is not right for you to use the holy book, Quran, to mislead our members,” according to Pastor Omala.
He added that Musa made additional comments encouraging violence against Christians.
Pastor Mulongo’s father, Dawuson Mwangu, said his son had traveled to Mbale to participate in the open-air Christian-Muslim dialogue and later that evening spoke on a local radio program.
“After the debate and the radio program, I believe some people became angry over what had happened,” Mwangu said.
Pastor Muloong left the radio station in Mbale city with a friend, Robert Mukisa, on the same motorcycle, Mukisa said. On the way to the place where they were lodging, when they were nine miles from Mbale, several men on motorcycles passed them and stopped ahead of them, he said.
“One of them shouted, ‘You have been misleading our people to join your bad religion and defiling our holy book,’” Mukisa told Morning Star News. “I panicked and jumped off the motorcycle and fled for my life as the attackers held my friend.”
After running two kilometers, Mukisa called police and his pastor, informing them that Pastor Mulongo had been attacked. Police recorded his statement about the attack.
Pastor Omala said he later received a telephone call from an elder of Pastor Mulongo’s church informing him that he had been killed in Jami village. The pastor called Pastor Mulongo’s father, and they rushed to the site.
“We rushed to the scene and found him lying in a pool of blood,” Pastor Omala said.
Police arrived at the site before Pastor Mulongo’s body was taken to Mbale City Mortuary for a postmortem examination. He sustained several injuries to his head, right hand, chest and back.
The body was later released to the family for burial in Petete village, Butebo District.
Musa is a suspect in the killing, and at this writing the imam was absconding, sources said. Police were investigating but have made no arrests. The pastor’s family has called for a thorough investigation into the killing and for those responsible to be prosecuted.
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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Photo: Pastor Bernard Mulongo was slain near Mbale, Uganda on July 18, 2026. (Morning Star News)
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