Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God
At least 924 members in a religious cult in Uganda have been reported dead. These include about 530 that were burned beyond recognition in an intentionally set fire that gutted their church in Kanungu, Uganda on March 17, 2000, 153 in anohter compound belonging to the group near Buhanga, 155 unearthed in a mass grave in a sugarcane field inb Dominic Kataribabo's estate at Rigazi, and 81 bodies foind on the farm of lay leader Joseph Nyumurinda. Most of the deaths occurred in Kanungu, a small trading center, about 217 miles southwest of Kampala, the captial of Uganda. The group was led by Joseph Kibweteere, who is suspected as the killer of the 900 people. Kibweteere believes to have overheard a conversation bewteen Jesus and the Virgin Mary. Mary stated that the world would come to an end unless humans started to follow the ten commandments. The group initially believed that the end of the world would occur December 31, 1999. During 1999, members sold their possessions, presumably in preparation for the end times when they would be transported to heaven. They slaughtered cattle and had a week-long feast. When the end did not come, Kibweteere changed the date to December 31, 2000. Later, he taught that the Virgin Mary would appear on March 17 and take the faithful to heaven. Devastation would then descend upon the world and the remaining six billion people in the world would be exterminated. They believed that they would experience a life much like Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Genesis account. In preparation for the event, members slaughtered three bulls, and had a great feast on the evening before the tragedy. The movement was founded by excommunicated Roman Catholic priests: Joseph Kibweteere, Joseph Kasapurari, John Kamagara and Dominic Katarribabo; two excommunicated Roman Catholic nuns, and Credonia Mwerinde who was an ex-prostitute. They were founded in 1989, and registered as a non-governmental organization in 1994. Their school was shut down by the government in 1998 because of its unsanitary conditions, their use of child labor and allegations of kidnapping of children. Estumates of the membership before the mass murder and/or suicides, range from 235 to about 650. Most of the members'were originally Roman Catholic. However, the group taught that Roman Catholics were an enemy, badly in need of reform. Their own rules came from the Virgin Mary, as channeled through Mwerinde. They believed that the ten commandments needed to be restored to their original importance. Medical care was discouraged. members rarely spoke. They use mostly gestures to communicate, out of fear of breaking the ninth commandment. The group was located in southwest Uganda and one of the most unstable areas of the world.
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Chad Harvey