BREAKING: Young Pastor killed In Uganda After Christian Vs Muslim Debate, Suspect Revealed
A 25-year-old pastor at New Restoration Church of Christ in Uganda’s Butebo District was killed hours after participating in a public Christian-Muslim debate in Mbale on July 18. He is survived by his wife and two children, ages 4 and 7.
Pastor Bernard Mulongo was slain near Mbale, Uganda, on July 18, 2026. | Morning Star News
Bernard Mulongo had traveled to Mbale to take part in an open-air interfaith dialogue, according to his father, Dawuson Mwangu. During the debate, two prominent Muslim women publicly converted to Christianity.
Pastor David Omala, who was present at the debate, said Imam Hassan Musa grew furious with Mulongo after his biblical arguments swayed the crowd.
According to Omala, Musa confronted Mulongo directly after the event, warning 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.”
Omala said Musa went on to make additional comments encouraging violence against Christians.
After the debate, Mulongo appeared on a local radio program that evening. “After the debate and the radio program, I believe some people became angry over what had happened,” his father said.
Following the broadcast, Mulongo left the radio station in Mbale on a motorcycle with a friend, Robert Mukisa, heading toward the place where they were lodging. About 9 miles outside Mbale, in Jami village, several men on motorcycles overtook them and blocked the road ahead, Mukisa 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.”
Mukisa ran roughly 2 kilometers (roughly 1.2 miles) before calling police and Mulongo’s pastor to report the attack. Police recorded his statement.
Omala said he later received a call from an elder at Mulongo’s church informing him that Mulongo had been killed in Jami village. Omala called Mulongo’s father, and the two rushed to the scene.
“We rushed to the scene and found him lying in a pool of blood,” Omala said.
Police arrived at the site before Mulongo’s body was taken to Mbale City Mortuary for a postmortem examination. He had sustained several injuries to his head, right hand, chest and back. His body was later released to his family for burial in Petete village, Butebo District.
Musa is a suspect in the killing and was believed to be evading authorities as of this writing, sources said. Police are investigating but have made no arrests. Mulongo’s family has called for a thorough investigation and prosecution of those responsible.
The killing is the latest in a long pattern of persecution against Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented. Muslims make up no more than 12% of Uganda’s population, with the highest concentrations in the country’s eastern regions, where Uganda’s constitution guarantees religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and to convert to another religion.
This article was originally published at Morning Star News
