Evangelist Hassan Muwanguzi, a lay leader with the Church of Uganda and a resident of Budaka district, eastern Uganda was arrested by Police in February when a Muslim cleric accused him of kidnapping his adult daughter.
This happened when the accuser’s daughter took refuge with the Preacher after leaving Islam.
In an effort to defame Hassan Muwanguzi and stir up Islamist sentiment against him, the accuser, Nghangha Mubakali told Police authorities that his daughter had been kidnapped by the preacher for human sacrifice.
The court in Tirinyi, Kibuku District on Monday last week dropped these charges [kidnapping and “human sacrifice”] against Muwanguzi after the complainant and his attorney twice failed to show up in court, Muwanguzi’s attorney told Morning Star News.
Muwanguzi and his attorney appeared at a court hearing on March 10 at which the judge asked whether the complainant or his lawyer were present. They were not.
“The case was adjourned to March 13, and still the complainant failed to appear in court again when the charges were read against Muwanguzi,” the attorney said.
Muwanguzi told Morning Star News his lawyer then requested the court dismiss the case since there was no public witness.
“The magistrate heard the request of my lawyer, and he said, “The case has been dismissed,’” Muwanguzi said. “Immediately we left the courtroom, and as we got out we saw more than 15 Muslims, some dressed in Islamic attire, enter the court gate. We knew that they had come for hearing of the case.”
His lawyer told Muwanguzi that those arriving were too late, and that he should file a defamation case against them so that he could be compensated, the evangelist said.
“I answered him that as a Christian I will forgive them, just as our master Jesus did,” he said. “He [the attorney] was not content at first, but later he accepted it.”
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