Hundreds of Ugandans from a sect flee to Ethiopia, fearing the end of the world

This content was published on Mar 31, 2023 – 07:06

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Nairobi, March 31 (EFE). Hundreds of members of a religious sect in Uganda have fled to Ethiopia in recent weeks, fearing the end of the world, the Ethiopian authorities confirmed today, citing Ugandan media.

“Hundreds of Ugandans entered Ethiopia through southern Ethiopia, claiming that the end of the world is coming and that Ethiopia is the only safe place,” Meles Alem, a spokesperson for the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters Thursday.

According to Meles, quoted by the Daily Monitor, the Ugandan nationals are currently residing in the town of Yangatum, in the Southern Ethiopian Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, which borders neighboring Kenya.

It is not yet clear whether the sect members crossed into Ethiopia via the Kenyan border or South Sudan.

The Ugandans, who belong to the so-called Disciples of Christ (CDC) church, began fleeing to Ethiopia last month.

In early March, the Ugandan police confirmed that they had opened an investigation into the sect, which is based in Ubulum village, in Siriri district (east).

And the police spokesman in that region, Oscar Ojika, said on the fifth of this month: “We started investigations after receiving information about people smuggling into Ethiopia since February and it is still continuing today.”

“It is said that the leadership of the church convinced its members that God had a plan for them to go and spread the gospel in Ethiopia, an idea that many seem to have accepted,” Ojika added.

Before fleeing to Ethiopia, the members sold their possessions, such as livestock, land, and household items, in order to raise money for the trip.

Various religious sects and denominations operate in Uganda and have been involved in tragic events in the past.

On March 17, 2000, the Revival of God’s Ten Commandments, a sect led by Joseph Kipwether, planned to start a fire that would kill more than seven hundred people.

Kibwetere persuaded his followers to sell all their possessions, claiming that the world would soon end.

The faithful gave him money before he was locked up, with no escape, in the church he had set on fire. EFE

Pa/ig