Father Beaten and Loses Family, Home for Becoming Christian

Neighbors help Tambuze Marijani of Nangi village, Uganda after relatives beat him on Jan. 4, 2024. (Morning Star News)

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – A Muslim in Uganda who put his faith in Christ as the new year began has suffered serious injuries and lost his home and family, sources said.

Tambuze Marijani of Nangi village, Mayuge District sustained a broken leg below the knee and other injuries requiring nearly two weeks of hospital treatment when Muslim relatives beat him on Jan. 4.

On Dec. 31 Marijani attended a New Year’s Eve church service in Bugweri District and, as the new year began, he and 14 others put their faith in Christ, the church pastor said.

Upon returning home, Marijani joyfully told his wife about his conversion, he said.

“I shared with my wife the joy of having received Christ as my Lord and Savior, but instead of my wife sharing in my joy, she was very upset,” Marijani told Morning Star News.

She left the following morning, Jan. 2, and returned on Jan. 3 with an Islamic divorce letter, he said.

“Because you joined a bad religion,” she told him, “you are now an apostate, an infidel and not part of the family – also, you cease to be a member of the Muslim community.”

“That night my wife refused me entry to our bedroom,” he said. “I slept in the sitting room.”

On Jan. 4, while Marijani was working at his farm, he saw his older brother and other relatives arrive at his house at about 1:30 p.m., prompting him to leave the fields and return home, he said.

Relatives damaged the home of Tambuze Marijani in Nangi village, Uganda on Jan. 4, 2024. (Morning Star News)

“Nearing my house, I saw people removing bricks from the house,” Marijani told Morning Star News. “As I drew closer, I noticed that they were my relatives: Murshidi Waniyaye, Abdullah Hamba, Abdul Wamadu and several others, including my wife.”

His older brother began insulting him, telling him he was disgrace to the family, he said.

“My younger brother got hold of me, and there and then they began beating me with sticks,” Marijani said. “I screamed and shouted for help, and neighbors arrived and rescued me.”

They rushed him to a clinic in Bwonda, and he later transferred to Mayuge District Hospital, he said. He received treatment for the broken leg, injuries to his back and chest pains before he was discharged on Jan. 16.

His house was rendered uninhabitable, and Muslim relatives have taken his former wife and four children, ages 12, 10, 8 and 7, he said.

“I do not know how I can survive without a family and being homeless,” Marijani said.

Still fearing for his life as he continues to recover, he has gone into hiding. The church paid his medical bills, but he lacks money and doubts that he will be allowed to return to his land. Missing his children, he said he prays he will see them again and that God will help him find a place to stay.

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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