The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Soroti Pastors and Elders Fellowship, an umbrella body for Pentecostal church leaders is seeking a public apology from the State Minister of Disaster Preparedness, Musa Ecweru for allegedly assaulting clergymen in Amuria district.
Ecweru, in the company of his bodyguard, Juma Odiope, reportedly beat up three members of the clergy for allegedly encroaching on a piece of land belonging to Wera Seed Secondary School located at Wera Town Council in Amuria district. The assaulted clergymen include Rev. Simon Peter Olato, the Parish Priest of Wera Church of Uganda and two lay readers; Benjamin Otasono and Simon Peter Eriku of Aten and St. John churches respectively.
The trio has since been discharged from St. Peter’s Medical Centre, where they were admitted after the incident on Saturday evening. Now, Pastor Robert Echeru, the chairperson of Soroti Pastors and Elders Fellowship says that the attack on church workers by the minister was wrong, ungodly and depicted a lack of respect for the almighty and his servants.
“When people have no reverence for God’s people, it is a clear sign that they don’t love God as well and it can attract a curse upon the land. The minister has to apologize to the priesthood and ask God for forgiveness. However, we the born again will want to identify with the Anglican Church”, Pastor Echeru said in a statement.
Pastor Echeru’s statement comes a day after the Province of the Church of Uganda and Soroti Diocese issued statements condemning the minister for attacking church workers. In both statements, the church leaders have asked the appointing authority to intervene in the matter.
In another press statement issued by the bishop of Soroti Diocese, the Rt. Rev. Kosea Odong on Tuesday evening, the church has maintained that there is no land conflict in Wera where the minister beat up the clergymen.
“The diocese condemns the use of violence for resolving land disputes or any form of disagreement. In regard to the dispute in Wera Parish, the church has no dispute with neighbours, the local government or the Seed Secondary School. In case any dispute is raised by an individual or group of individuals, the church will resort to bible principles and teachings and will also uphold the rule of law in resolving the dispute”, the press release reads in part.
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