Several people were injured when Muslims and Christians clashed in Yumbe district in Northern Uganda, West Nile Sub-region, following a plan by a Christian businessman to open a pork outlet in Yumbe town. According to several local media outlets the protests on Nov. 4 were said to have been led by Sheikh Kasim Abdalla upon reports of an establishment that introduced pork in the area. 

The news outlets stated that protesters decried the move saying it was provocative and disregarded the community’s religious beliefs. 

Sheikh Abdalla, the Imam at Munir Mosque, who led the protest, said his group was standing up for “respect of Islamic and cultural values,” insisting that introducing pork businesses in Muslim-majority areas would “breed unnecessary conflict.”

According to the Daily Monitor, the Sheikh said, “Should you (youths) see any pork, you should destroy it. Should the police ask, you should say I sent you to do it. Pork is a dirty meat. When you take it to the lab, worms will come out of it.”

However, other members in the community argued that everyone has a right to start any business just as they have the right to worship.  

Property was destroyed in the clashes and police had to use live rounds to dissipate the clashes, leaving more wounded people. 

According to the 2024 census, Yumbe has a population of 934,340 people, with about 76% identifying as Muslim and 24% as Christian.

Yumbe district has been known for religious tensions over the years. In a 2022 report published by Faith Action Network titled, Interfaith Grassroots Peacebuilding: Promoting Peaceful Coexistence in West Nile, Uganda, underscored the fragile situation in the district.

The Muslims blamed Christian’s for covertly converting the Muslim youth into Christianity, the report said. “Their relations worsened as followers of the two faiths competed for the local government jobs and contracts, management of schools, land and water resources, and political positions in the district.”

While there were efforts by the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) and Muslim Centre for Justice and Law (MCJL), the latest flare up demonstrates the fragile religious co-existence in the area.