Cable from the Universal House of Justice:
WITH GRIEF-STRICKEN HEARTS ANNOUNCE TRAGIC NEWS BRUTAL MURDER DEARLY LOVED GREATLY ADMIRED HAND CAUSE GOD ENOCH OLINGA BY UNKNOWN GUNMEN COURTYARD HIS KAMPALA HOME. HIS WIFE ELIZABETH, AND THREE OF HIS CHILDREN BADI, LENNIE AND TAHlRlH HAVE ALSO FALLEN INNOCENT VICTIMS THIS CRUEL ACT. MOTIVE ATTACK NOT YET ASCERTAINED. HIS RADIANT SPIRIT, HIS UNWAVERING FAITH, HIS ALL-EMBRACING LOVE, HIS LEONINE AUDACITY IN THE TEACHING FIELD, HIS TITLES KNIGHT BAHA'U'LLAH FATHER VICTORIES CONFERRED BELOVED GUARDIAN, ALL COMBINE DISTINGUISH HIM AS PRE-EMINENT MEMBER HIS RACE IN ANNALS FAITH AFRICAN CONTINENT. URGE FRIENDS EVERYWHERE HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERINGS BEFITTING TRIBUTE HIS IMPERISHABLE MEMORY. FERVENTLY PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS NOBLE SOUL AND SOULS FOUR MEMBERS HIS PRECIOUS FAMILY.
THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
September 17, 1979
According to news reports, later confirmed by the Universal House of Justice, the beloved Hand of the Cause of God Enoch Olinga, his wife and three of their five children were brutally slain by unknown assassins in the courtyard of their home in Kampala, Uganda, sometime during the early morning hours of Sunday, September 16, 1979.
The reports said nothing was taken from the home, and the motive for the murders was unknown.
Only a few months before his tragic death, Mr. Olinga had cabled the Universal House of Justice the joyous news that the House of Worship in Kampala was once again open following the overthrow of the government of Gen. Idi Amin.
Mr. Olinga, a native of Kampala, embraced the Cause of Baha'u'llah in 1952 and spent the years from 1952-63 as a pioneer in West Africa, principally in the Cameroons, Nigeria and Ghana.
He became a Knight of Baha'u'llah when, through his heroic efforts, the British Cameroons was opened to the Faith, and in October 1957 was named a Hand of the Cause of God by the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, the only indigenous African ever to achieve that distinction.
Mr. Olinga was one among the last contingent of Hands of the Cause appointed by the Guardian, who passed away the following month. Others named at that time were Hasan M. Balyizi, Abu'l-Qasim Faizi, H. Collis Featherstone, John Ferraby, Rahmatu'llah Muhajir, John Robarts and William Sears.
Following his appointment as a Hand of the Cause, Mr. Olinga traveled extensively in Europe, South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
Fluent in six languages, he was an economist and author of several books, the most important of which is Social and Economic Problems -- Their Solution.
Mr. Olinga represented the Universal House of Justice on numerous occasions, such as the Baha'i National Conventions in the Dominican Republic and Cuba in 1961, and in later years in Burundi/Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Liberia, The Gambia, and at the first Baha’i Oceanic Conference in Palermo, Sicily, in 1968
During the course of his travels, Mr. Olinga met many heads of state including President Tubman of Liberia, President Kenyatta of Kenya, President Shazar of Israel, and President Ahidjo of the Cameroon Republic.
In 1971 he visited several countries in Central and South America, and was warmly greeted by the Premier of Belize, the Governor of the Panama Canal Zone, and His Excellency Demetrio Lacas, then President of the Republic of Panama.
Memorial services for Mr. Olinga and his family were held in Baha'i communities all over the world. In the U.S., a formal service was held Saturday, October 13, at the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois.
(Baha’i News, December 1979)
