Mulinde who nows wears a protective mask in a photo with his family
Who burnt Pastor Mulinde with
acid?
Publish Date: Jan 17, 2013
It is over a year since Pastor Umar Mulinde of Gospel Life
Church International at Namasuba was burnt with acid shortly after he had
finished preaching to his faithful.
It is however disturbing that more than a year later, the
case file at Katwe police vanished without a trace, and investigations into the
horrendous act ground to a halt!
On December 12, 2011, assailants waylaid the pastor at his
church in Namasuba just as he had parked his car after preaching to his
faithful at Kikajjo.
Mulinde says while he was outside his church he heard
someone shout in Arabic: ‘Allah Akbar’ (God is great). That was at 8.00pm when,
following the swearing, he felt a stinging sensation in his face.
Mulinde told Bukedde newspaper that he felt a heat wave
engulf his face. The assailant had just poured acid in his face and fled,
leaving him screaming for help.
Mulinde says the next time he regained consciousness he was
in hospital. He had been rushed to Kampala
International Hospital
where he received first aid before he was flown to Israel for specialised treatment.
To date however questions still linger in people’s minds as
to what became of the case. How far did police investigations go? Did they
arrest the people they said were suspects in the heinous crime?
Assailant swore in Arabic
Speaking to Bukedde newspaper, Mulinde said: I saw a young
man who swore in Arabic ‘Allah Akbar’ before he poured acid from a container he
was holding. I felt a heat wave engulf my face and a burning sensation
right after the acid was poured on me. That is the last time I was
conscious. The next time I came round I was in hospital at Namuwongo.
Doctors did everything possible to treat me but because of
my critical condition I had to be flown to Israel where I am currently nursing
my wounds.
Blinded by acid
“Although I sustained severe acid burns I no longer feel
pain because of the specialized treatment; the unfortunate bit is that I was
blinded in one eye.
Doctors have had to do skin grafting three times and the
latest operation that was done in November should last me one year.”
Mulinde’s doctors also said the pastor was burnt with
concentrated acid causing him to go blind in one eye, tearing the skin and also
damaging some bones. Doctors have expressed hope that Mulinde will heal
properly in two years’ time.
Police circus
Pastor David Kiganda, the head of Christianity Focus
Center in Kisenyi who
closely followed this case says:
I wonder how after a year the Police are still stalling on
the case! I remember recently Kampala
metropolitan police spokesperson Ibin Ssenkumbi
said they had information that fellow pastors who were known were behind the
acid attack on Mulinde.
So why have they never arrested
the pastors? If he was not sure why did he say it? Or if police
arrested these pastors why don’t they reveal to the whole world what happened?
Can the deputy police spokesperson, Vincent Ssekate, search
for Mulinde’s file for a whole week and fail to find it? I have spoken to
Ssekate three times.
The first time he asked me to give him an hour to look for
the file; the second time he said they were looking for the file at Katwe
police; and the third time he asked for more time to look for the file. And to
date he is looking for the file!
The CID boss Katwe police Herbert Wanyoto, however, says the
file was forwarded to Makindye
Court!
What is shocking, Pastor Kiganda says, is how could the file
have been forwarded to court when police had no suspect in custody? Is it that
police are buying time for people to forget about
the case?
Mulinde had converted from Islam to become a pastor. However
the Old Kampala Muslim faction spokesperson, Hajji Nsereko Mutumba, refuted
claims that it was a Muslim who poured acid on Mulinde simply because he had
converted.
“Mulinde is not the only one to have left the Muslim faith;
many have converted but nothing has happened to them. Allah said even if all
you worship me you take nothing from me, and even when you disobey me I still
lose nothing,” says Nsereko.
“This means the Islamic faith is bigger than Mulinde, so we
lose nothing when he leaves.”
Mulinde appears in public
Since the life changing acid attack, Mulinde had never
appeared anywhere in public. But on September 23 last year he was one of the
pastors that congregated at the International Nations Convocation that was held
in Israel.
Pastors from Uganda,
who attended led by Dr. John Mulinde of Trumpet Center
Mission & Prayer Mountain in Sseguku, were indeed shocked
to see him alive and healthy considering that the acid had disfigured him.
At the convocation Mulinde preached and said it was only by
the grace of God that he was still alive. He revealed that there had been ten separate
attempts on his life in a period of ten years.
“There could be a ploy to pour acid on other pastors who
converted from Islam because I was not the first.
Pastors Jamada Kikomeko of Nateete, Zachariah of Jinja
and Nathan Ibrahim of Mbarara have also been attacked,” he said at the
convocation.
Special prayers were said for Mulinde by other pastors
including Lambert from South Africa,
Tom Hess from the US
and Dr Umar.
Who is Pastor Mulinde
Mulinde is a son to Hajji Idi Wasswa and Hajjati Joelia
Namugga, who hail from Kikandwa-Kassanda in Mubende district. His parents are
such staunch Muslims that his father built a mosque in his compound. Mulinde
attended Islamic schools and is fluent in Arabic, English and Swahili.
After converting from Islam, he got baptised by the late
Pastor Deo Balyabyekkubo of Prayer
Palace at Kibuye. He is
very prominent in preaching the word of God and before the acid attack, he had
traversed nearly every part of the country preaching. He is also a Senior
Pastor.
He is renowned for organising pilgrimages every year to holy
places in Israel.
He is married to Evelyn and together they have six children.
Faithfuls prepare for
Mulinde's return
They say what does not break you only makes you stronger!
Pastor Mulinde's unfortunate acid attack, if it was indeed orchestrated by
jealous colleagues, only made him and his establishment stronger.
According to Pastor Harunah Nsereko who runs Mulinde's
church, the church has only become stronger and has attracted more followers.
He says they have seen their following grow three-fold since the heinous attack
on the man of God.
Nsereko affirms that Pastor Kiganda is keeping tabs on the
progress of the case whose investigations seem to have stalled at police.
“I ensure everything runs smoothly because after the attack
on Mulinde everything just collapsed. I have done everything possible with the
help of Pastor Yazid Muwanguzi," Nsereko said.
He says according to reports coming from the Israel
hospital, Pastor Mlinde will soon be out and preparations are in high gear for
his grand return. Amen!
Bukedde
