Some 80 followers of a cult in eastern Uganda who travelled to Ethiopia in February at the call of a pastor to find salvation by fasting to death have been repatriated, the Ugandan authorities said on Tuesday. The Church of Christ Disciples had travelled to Ethiopia after their pastor, Simon Opolot, said they would find Jesus after 40 days of fasting. "Working with the Ethiopian government, we were able to organize their repatriation, and they are all safe and sound in Uganda," Simon Mundeyi, spokesman for the Ugandan Ministry of Internal Affairs, told AFP. "But the Ethiopian authorities learned of their arrival in the country, recovered them and confined them until their repatriation documents were ready", added Simon Mundeyi. In neighboring Kenya, more than 250 people have been found dead so far since April in the Shakahola forest, near the coast, where followers of an evangelical sect advocating extreme fasting to "meet Jesus" were meeting.

Source: Ethiopian News June 13, 2023 14:25 UTC