Priest Hacked to Death in His House, Son Arrested

Police in Serere District are holding a 21-year-old man to aid in investigations into the death of his father, Rev. Canon Paul Ediu. The 68-year-old retired priest was killed in his home on Monday night, December 2, 2024. His body was discovered in his room on Tuesday morning at Agiret Village, Atiira Sub-County.

Enoch Erau, a cousin in the family, says the priest’s body has injuries on the neck, hands, legs, and other parts of the body that are believed to have been inflicted by the assailant. He says the priest went to bed in good condition on Monday night but was not seen on Tuesday morning, prompting the family members to check his room.

Sam Ediu, the son of the deceased priest, says that his father has been living with his last born, now suspected, in the same house. He notes that by the time of the incident, his mother, the wife to the priest, had gone to check on her grandchildren in the neighborhood.

"We lost a brother sometime but his wife wasn't feeling well. So Mama had gone there to help with the children when this incident happened," he said on the phone. The East Kyoga Regional Police Commander, Damalie Nachuha, says that the preliminary findings indicate that the priest could have been strangled to death. She says that the arrest of the deceased's son was to aid the investigations since he has been sleeping in the same house as the deceased.

The Diocesan Secretary of the Church of Uganda Diocese of Soroti, the Rev. Canon Samuel Ediau, says that by the time of the incident, the late was a retired Priest and Canon of the Church who faithfully served God, rising through the ranks of the church.

"Besides the many parishes that he served in, he was also once the Archdeacon of Amuria," the diocesan secretary said in his obituary. Serere District has recorded an increasing number of cases of murder of women and elders this year. At least two cases of murder are recorded in the district every month, according to police reports.