Bahá’í World/Volume 18/Enoch Olinga

←Previous

The Bahá’í World Volume 18

Next→

[Page 618]

ENOCH OLINGA

1926—1979

Enoch Olinga came from a family of devout Christian converts taught by the Church Missionary Society, now the Native Anglican Church of Uganda. His people lived in the Teso north-eastern part of the country and belonged to the Atesot tribe, of the clan of Aatekok or Iraraka. His father, Samusan Okadakina, of the village of Tilling in Ngora County, volunteered in 1920 to take Christianity to Soroti County where he became a catechist in the church, and where, in 1921, he married, according to church ritual, Eseza Iyamitai, who gave birth on 24 June 1926, in

THE BAHA

7

1’ WORLD

Enoch Olinga

the village of Abaango, to her second son, Enoch. In 1927 Enoch’s father returned to his permanent home in Tilling—a name which will forever be associated not only with Africa’s only native Hand of the Cause, but with the first substantial conversion of the African people to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, an event which was a source of immense joy and pride to the heart of the beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi.

Enoch’s stature must be seen against a unique period in Bahá’í history, for he accepted this new Faith of God shortly after its introduction into black Africa through a vast planned drive to carry Bahá’u’lláh’s message to its people. During the last thirty years of Bahá’u’lláh’s ministry a few of His followers living in Egypt and the Sudan were the recipients of His praise and encouragement; during ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ministry the Faith had reached Tunis, and for the first time some of its occidental supporters, greatly encouraged by the Master, were spreading its message in southern Africa; it remained, however, for the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, at the time of the British National Spiritual Assembly’s two [Page 619]lN MEMORIAM

year interim plan in 1950—1952, to truly inaugurate the spiritual conquest of Africa through the strong support and guidance he gave to Persian, British and American believers to pioneer there. This initial step he followed up on a grand scale through the provisions of his World Crusade, inaugurated in 1953—3 Ten Year Plan which, among other objectives, was to open to the Faith 131 virgin territories in the five continents Of the globe; many of its objectives concerned the work in Africa, whose pioneers were responsible for the phenomenally rapid spread of the Teachings amongst a race whom Bahá’u’lláh Himself had compared to ‘the black pupil of the eye’ through which ‘the light of the spirit shineth forth’—a statement fraught with profound implications, for the sight of the eye is in the pupil.

The current of Enoch Olinga’s destiny carried him towards a fixed point; for the ten years after his father returned to Tilling in 1927, Enoch received his schooling locally and at Ngora, a small town not far from his home; later he went to high school in Mbale; during World War II, in 1941, he joined the British Army Education Corps and went to Nairobi in Kenya, later serving in the East African King’s Rifles Corps in South East Asia, visiting Burma, East Pakistan, Ceylon and India. By 1946 he had returned to Uganda, a young man of twenty, and joined the Government Department of Public Relations and Welfare. For a time he was stationed in Soroti and Mbale, producing two books in his own language, Ateso, which were of assistance to the Government Education Department in the Teso district; later he moved to Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

By the time Enoch came in contact with the Faith in 1951 his personal life had assumed an entirely new aspect; he was now married and had his first children; he was a gifted translator working for the government, but also a somewhat disillusioned man who had become a very heavy drinker, a fact of which the government service that employed him had become aware and which led to his dismissal, in spite of his marked capacity and relatively long record of service. Unfortunately the reports on this serious impairment to the discharge of his duties had already gone through when Enoch accepted the Faith and

619

upon his enrolment gave up all alcohol immediately.

Enoch was the third Ugandan to accept Bahá’u’lláh, but the first of the Teso tribe; he heard about the Faith from a friend who introduced him to ‘Ali Nalgh'avani, the sonin-law of Mr. and Mrs. Banam’ who had left Persia to pioneer, in response to the wishes of Shoghi Effendi, had proceeded to Africa and settled in Uganda with their daughter Violette, her husband ‘Ali, and their daughter, aged three, arriving there in 1951; Mr. Banani purchased a home in the heart of Kampala, at 3 Kitante Road; events were to take place there, of both joy and grief, which are inextricably interwoven with the unfoldment of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan in that continent.

Once Enoch had met ‘Ali a friendship began to unfold and Enoch attended the regular evening meetings held for enquirers in the Banani home, where the warmth of this Persian Bahá’í household greatly attracted him. In February 1952 Mr. and Mrs. Banam’ left on their pilgrimage to the World Centre, and it was agreed that during this time the pioneers in Kampala would hold a special meeting for all the Africans who were interested in the Faith and that this would coincide with the time in Haifa when the Guardian usually Visited the Shrines; Mr. Banani would inform him of this and ask for special prayers. Shoghi Effendi was happy to comply with this request, and he and Mr. Banani visited the Shrines together at that hour. Enoch attended that meeting in Kampala—but nothing happened! The three pioneers—the Namavanis and Philip Hainsworth—felt very discouraged. Later that night, however, he returned, posed many questions and ended up by asking ‘How does one become a Bahá’í?’ Early the following morning he appeared with a letter requesting to be accepted as a believer; from the very beginning Enoch had avidly read every Bahá’í book he could get, and this laid the foundation for his deep knowledge of the Teachings. Mrs. Olinga, making no secret of the fact that it was the remarkable transformation in her husband’s conduct since he had become a Bahá’í that influenced her decision, also embraced the Faith. Gradually others swelled its numbers in Kampala so that by 21 April 1952, the first, historic Local Spiritual Assem [Page 620]620

bly of Uganda, of which Enoch was a member, could be elected in that city. Some months later Enoch returned to his Teso home in Tilling to spread the glad tidings of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings and aroused such interest that he returned to Kampala and persuaded ‘Ali’ to visit Tilling. as the people there wanted to see with their own eyes the white man who had converted Enoch to this new doctrine. ‘Ali’, first with Enoch as interpreter, later with Enos Epyeru, one of the first Teso believers, travelled and taught in the Teso district for several weeks, where regular enrolment now began, one of the first being Enoch’s own father, who became a very staunch Bahá’í.

In the beginning of January 1953—eight months after the Local Assembly of Kampala was formed—the Guardian cabled the Bahá’í world: SHARE BAHAI COMMUNITIES EAST WEST THRILLING REPORTS FEATS ACHIEVED HEROIC BAND PIONEERS LABOURING DIVERS WIDELY SCATTERED AFRICAN TERRITORIES PARTICULARLY UGANDA, and went on to liken these feats to episodes related in the Book of Acts in the Bible and to‘ the rapid and dramatic propagation of our own Faith by the Dawn Breakers of its Heroic Age. He stated that what was happening in Africa eclipsed even the marvellous accomplishments in Latin America and surpassed the exploits which immortalized the European Crusade. Shoghi Effendi attached great importance to the identity of people; the believers were never an amorphous mass who accepted Bahá’u’lláh; they were individuals, interesting, like the coloured pieces that make up a beautiful mosaic picture. It was at this moment that the spotlight went to Uganda and was held there till the end of Shoghi Effendi’s life. In that same cable he went on to say: NUMBER AFRICANS CONVERTED CAUSE LAST FIFFEEN MONTHS RESIDING KAMPALA OUTLYING DISTRICTS PROTESTANT CATHOLIC PAGAN BACKGROUNDS LETTERED UNLETTERED BOTH SEXES REPRESENTATIVE NO LESS SIXTEEN TRIBES PASSED TWO HUNDRED. This was the first blast on the trumpet of ‘entry by troops” predicted and so much hoped for by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. In that same cable the Guardian announced that no less than nine localities would be qualified in Riḍván to form their Local Assemblies; still more significant, however, was his announcement that he would

THE BAHA‘E WORLD

send to the first of the four Intercontinental Conferences to be held in 1953—which was the African one held in Kampala—a copy of the portrait of the Báb, the showing of which he was confident would bring the new African believers CLOSER SPIRIT MARTYR-PROPHET FAITH and BESTOW EVERLASTING BENEDICTION ALL GATHERED MEMORABLE SESSIONS EPOCHMAKING CONFERENCE. It was Enoch, the new Bahá’í. who found himself on the Kampala Local Assembly, caught up with veteran believers in making plans for this unique and historic gathering. When Enoch had been disheartened over losing his job, Mr. Banam’, in a flight of prophecy, had rallied his spirit, assuring him he would get an even better job—which he later did. The Conference was to be held from February 12th to 18th and the Guardian himself had placed a sum of money in charge of Mr. Bananf to be used exclusively to bring some of the new Bahá’ís as his guests. As the ‘mass conversion’ was taking place in Teso, this meant that about 200 people would be brought down by bus from this northeastern province. which was a trip of over 200 miles. ‘Ali’ Nafljavani went to escort the friends and invite them to be Shoghi Effendi’s guests. When the men got on the buses many of the women wept and wailed because they were afraid their men were being taken off to be slaves!

In his greeting and message to this ‘epochmaking’ Conference, which the Guardian hailed with a ‘joyous heart”, he said ‘welcome with open arms the unexpectedly large number of the representatives of the pure-hearted and the spiritually receptive Negro race” and pointed out that their continent had retained its primitive simplicity and ‘remained uncontaminated’ by what he characterized in scathing terms as the evils of ‘a gross, a rampant and cancerous materialism undermining the fabric of human society alike in the East and in the West’ and ‘threatening to engulf in one common catastrophic convulsion the generality of mankind”. Weighty words containing a weightier warning. In this message Shoghi Effendi outlines the vast amount of work lying ahead for the six sponsoring National Assemblies, the indigenous believers themselves, and their pioneer helpers. No less than thirtythree virgin territories are to be opened to the Faith and three giant National—really

[Page 621][N MEMORIAM

regional in nature—Assemblies are to be formed, embracing the continent: Central and East Africa with its seat in Kampala, South and West Africa with its seat in Johannesburg, and North-West Africa with its seat in Tunis. Amongst other additional objectives, the Hand of the Cause for Africa, Mr. Banani, is to nominate during the following Riḍván, 1954, an Auxiliary Board of nine members to assist in the tasks that lie ahead.

Every one of these points touches on Enoch’s own life: it was his people, the Tesos, numbering many tens of thousands, who formed the vast majority of Bahá’ís in Uganda before the civil war; he responded to the appeal for pioneers to open the thirtythree territories and himself became a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh; he was elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of North-West Africa; he was appointed a Hand of the Cause in the last contingent of eight elevated to that rank by Shoghi Effendi just before he passed away. Enoch thus became the colleague of Mfisa Banani’, in whose home he had accepted the Faith. There can be no doubt, as we look back on his life as a Bahá’í, that the experience of Enoch, when he saw the portrait of the Martyr-Prophet of his Faith, did indeed bestow an ‘everlasting benediction” upon him.

Enoch was now established in his new job and his reformed way of life—but a strong wind was blowing, the wind of God calling the souls of the receptive Bahá’ís to arise and hear the call of their Lord and carry His Message to far places. As Enoch’s father had once arisen to carry the Christian Faith to another territory, so now Enoch and two other new Ugandan believers arose to leave family, home, job and country to carry the glad tidings of Bahá’u’lláh across the continent to West Africa, to some of those waiting, unopened countries. Mr. Banani, the Spiritual Conqueror of Africa, as Shoghi Effendi called him, had recently bought a small Peugeot station-wagon which he placed at their disposal. Originally the trip had been planned to take Violette to visit a Bahá’í family in the Congo, but now its character entirely changed when the ever-faithful and ever-enthusiastic ‘Alf volunteered to drive the three would-be pioneers across the continent in his capacity of spiritual pilot and physical chauffeur. The five set off, on 27 August 1953, with not too much

621

money and almost no information about the route that lay ahead, on probably the most abominable roads in the world, in a passenger car certainly not equipped to cope with them. Their consolation then, and throughout the entire journey, was a cable received from their beloved Guardian on the eve of their departure: LOVING, FERVENT PRAYERS ACCOMPANYING YOU.

About a week later Samson Mungono was dropped off in Kamina, in what was then the Belgian Congo (now Zaire), which already had two non-African believers living in different parts of the country; by 26 September Max Kenyerezi. the Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for French Equatorial Africa (now Congo Republic), had been established in Brazzaville. The longest and hardest part of the journey, however, still lay ahead through the deep tropical jungles of Gabon: passing through a disease-decimated area, plagued by insects, constantly getting stuck in the mud, ‘Ali 0r Enoch had to walk many miles to get help from villagers to lift their car out of the bog; so difficult was the road that in one day, during sixteen hours, they progressed only 100 kilometres. On the next day they made only 25 kilometres in fourteen hours; finally the car really broke down; Enoch volunteered to walk ahead 50 miles, with a villager as a guide, to get help from a town that reputedly had a garage; separating from Enoch distressed the Nalfljavanis even more than their own plight; ‘Ali—no mechanic—at last succeeded in repairing the car’s clutch sufficiently to limp along on Enoch’s trail, constantly breaking down, but eventually managing to overtake him the following day after Enoch had walked 35 miles; he was exhausted from bad dysentery, in pain and very worried over them; on reaching the town ‘Ali, who had been badly bitten by tsetse flies—the dread carrier of sleeping sickness—and Violette, who had also been bitten by them, went to the hospital for tests and treatment, but Enoch was so ill he was hospitalized for two days and could not travel for a week. When they had overtaken Enoch he told them that the night before, when he was alone with only strange Africans around him with whom he could not talk, afraid for his safety and the money he was carrying, full of misgivings and doubt, asking himself why he had left home and family on

[Page 622]622

such a mad undertaking, he dreamed of Shoghi Effendi, who took him in his arms and held him close, and into him had poured comfort and reassurance; this dream restored his strength and affected him so profoundly he cried out in his heart to the Guardian that he was willing to go through such hardships for him every day of his life!

Finally on 10 October, the little party crossed into French Cameroons, but Enoch’s objective was British Cameroons, a goal which he was to fill on behalf of the British National Spiritual Assembly. The main bridge between the two countries was down; by a long and agonizing detour the party at last drove into Mamfe—rushing for the post office there to cable the Guardian that British Cameroons was now opened by Enoch’s arrival. It was 4 pm. and the postmaster was closing up, but ‘Ali begged him to re—open so that this important cable could get off before the Holy Year ended on that very night of 15 October. On the 16th they arrived in Victoria, on the coast, where Enoch was to live for the coming ten years before returning permanently to his homeland in East Africa.

The Africa of those days was still under colonial administration; reluctantly the Na@javam’s and Enoch agreed that their association might place in jeopardy the object of so much effort and sacrifice because Victoria was only a small town and two white orientals and a black Ugandan were far too conspicuous a combination. The first problem was where to find lodging for Enoch; tribalism, even today, makes one group very suspicious of any other; no one wanted to take in a man from another people 3,000 kilometres away, the other side of Africa. Finally, through the familiar odd series of circumstances which seem so often to open doors for Bahá’í pioneers, a young man working in the local library got into conversation with Violette, found she was worrying over how to find accommodation for a ‘young Ugandan we know’, and asked to meet Enoch. The upshot was Enoch became a lodger in the home of David Tanyi, who not only accepted the Faith through him, becoming the first believer in the' entire Cameroons, but later became the Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for French Togoland. The NalQiavénis removed to nearby Douala, in the French Cameroons, where they could still be close to Enoch without

THE BAHA’!’ WORLD

arousing the suspicions of the local authorities in Victoria because they wanted to be sure he would get his residence Visa and was safely settled in his pioneering post before they returned to Uganda. Enoch himself discreetly but eagerly began to teach new friends.

The period of the Guardian’s World Crusade was indeed a time of flame. A holy enthusiasm to teach the Cause of God to humanity spread far and wide. Shoghi Effendi, greatly encouraged by the remarkable trek across Africa which had already led to the opening of two new countries, now encouraged Enoch to do the seemingly impossible and raise up, from among his new converts, pioneers to go forth and open other virgin territories. When one realizes that Enoch himself was a new Bahá’í and a recent pioneer, his success was almost miraculous. In a letter addressed to Leroy Ioas dated 15 April 1954—exactly six months after his arrival in the British Cameroons—Enoch wrote: ‘Praised be to God that our Beloved Guardian’s admonition to assign and get pioneers settled in the five virgin territories has through Beloved’s Boundless Grace been fulfilled. We prayerfully raise up our suppliant hands and voices of praise to Bahá’u’lláh for His guidance and confirmations, and I believe very firmly that He will assuredly assist and guide these new and young soldiers in His triumphant Army, and render them victorious for, according to my little understanding and belief, they have in them such a rare spirit of love and devotion to His Best Beloved Cause.’

At first, he wrote, it looked almost impossible to get any of the new believers to leave their homes and move to foreign lands: ‘. . . but I knew very well that the Beloved Guardian, who is actually watching the world and all the believers, could not have asked for the impossible. As soon as the news reached their attentive and sensitive ears the believers reacted in such a manner that a spectator could take them for drunkards . . . they really became intoxicated with the choice wine of His love and of submissiveness and obedience to the call of their Best Beloved. Pioneering offers poured in like locusts and clear signs of obedience to move the next minute were made manifest, forgetting their property and loving relatives and families.’ Indeed, so many

[Page 623]IN MEMORIAM

offers to pioneer were made that in the end they had to draw lots to see which five would be chosen to go.

‘Al1’ flew back to Victoria to help make the arrangements for Visas and transportation—in those days a much more complicated matter than today in independent Africa. ‘When ‘Ali arrived’, Enoch wrote, ‘not a single moment was wasted. Off they flew like very mighty eagles in the heavenly sky. Such are the soldiers of Bahá’u’lláh. 0! How I wish I accompanied them! May Bahá’u’lláh sustain them and guide their footsteps along the glorious path of spiritual understanding and selfless sacrifice so that they may grow into trees whose fruits will be the food for the hungry ones. My constant prayer is that they may find means of settlement. I know the Beloved Guardian’s fervent prayers are with them.’

Enoch also reports that the letter of Shoghi Effendi to David Tanyi, received on the eve of his departure to pioneer, was indeed a remarkable coincidence and that David had said he was going to frame it. At the airport, while relatives dissolved in tears, the pioneers cheerfully marched to the plane, a contrast which to Enoch crowned ‘the pioneering of these gallant and stalwart soldiers of the Ancient Beauty’.

In answer to his letter Enoch was assured that the Guardian ‘was deeply moved by the reports which you sent and the manner in which the friends received his call to pioneer in the virgin areas. He feels this is truly historic, because it means that people who have been Bahá’ís for only a short period, have arisen to carry the Glad Tidings to peoples of new lands. The manner in which the Faith has spread in Africa is truly remarkable, and overshadows the manner it has spread in other parts of the world. It indicates how glorious will be the future of the Faith in that great continent.’

The names of these precious and distinguished spiritual children of Enoch, who received each the title, like himself, of Knight of Bahá’u’lláh, are as follows: David Tanyi, French Togoland; Edward Tabe, British Togoland; Samuel Njiki, French Cameroons; Benedict Eballa, Ashanti Protectorate; Martin Manga, Northern Territories Protectorate.

Two months later, on 14 June 1954, Enoch

623

wrote his first letter to Shoghi Effendi; as far as records go it seems this was his only one, hence I will quote it in full as it well reflects his love, his respect, his obedience to the Head of his Faith and the one who had become the focal point of his life:

My Well-Beloved Guardian,

I must first thank my Well-Beloved Guardian for continually praying for my spiritual welfare as well as of those who are now serving the Ancient Beauty, and for the Beloved Guardian’s guidance, without which the present spiritual achievements of our beloved Faith would have not been possible.

Furthermore, I very humbly beg to assure my dearly loved Guardian of my unreserved loving devotion to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, and my submissiveness to every one of the Guardian‘s admonitions in the way of promoting the fundamental interests of our Faith, which is now overshadowing the entire world. May I also be permitted to express the joy and delight which the letters received by the individual Bahá’ís from the Beloved Guardian have brought to the hearts of all the believers of this nascent community. These letters, like the fervent prayers of the Beloved Guardian, do wonders here. Our daily prayer and hope is that God, the AllCompelling, the All-Protecting may prolong the days of our Beloved Guardian’s unbroken service to His Cause and mankind.

As my Beloved Guardian may be aware, an Assembly was elected here last Riḍván, and through Beloved’s Grace the coming Riḍván may bring us a number of local Assemblies. I have just returned from a two weeks’ teaching trip which took me right inside the country where I had quite thrilling and exciting experiences; especially when I had to live among the Villagers who believe in witchcraft and potency of ‘Juju’ (fetish, I think) practices. Quite terrifying it was to hear very frightful stories told by ‘Juju’ adherents, but with much confidence in Bahá’u’lláh I was never deterred. Fortunately enough a few of them were enabled to see the Truth of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh—may my life, soul and spirit be a

[Page 624]624

sacrifice unto the lowliest of His servants!

It may please my Beloved Guardian to know that ten new centres have been opened to the Faith, making a total of twelve centres in British Cameroons. We want to develop all the eleven towards Assembly status before the next Riḍván. We really need our Well-Beloved Guardian’s special prayers for success in this somewhat ambitious project.

We receive very encouraging letters from all our five pioneers who have gone to open virgin territories. They all seem very happy there and are waiting for the doors of success to be opened for them. We all hope and pray that in time they will find jobs they can do. This is not only because they will thereby be able to support themselves, but also because they will feel so much more happy and settled when they have jobs of work to do. They will take root and feel they belong. We always encourage them to remain there as much as we can when we write to them.

My Well-Beloved Guardian may be interested to know that the number of believers is increasing very rapidly in British Cameroons. The present situation is: accepted believers, up to 30; declarations, up to 40; centres now opened to the Faith, 12.

Please, my Beloved Guardian, I know how much busy you are, therefore I shall not dwell on inconsequentialities.

I very reverently beg to send my loving greetings and best wishes to my Beloved Guardian and all members of family.

With warmest Bahá’í Love from Victoria believers,

I beg to remain, my Beloved Guardian, Your devoted servant, Enoch Olinga

It was not the custom of the Guardian to keep copies of his wide correspondence; we do know, however, that this letter was answered by him on 9 August but, unfortunately, the original has not been found.

In those days the Bahá’ís throughout Africa were few and far between but part of the great Ten Year Plan of Shoghi Effendi was to create not only Local Spiritual Assemblies but bodies

’l‘HE Bahá’í WORLD

to fulfil the functions of National Spiritual Assemblies; he solved the problem of too few believers in any one country to justify an independent National Assembly by constituting, in 1956, a number of giant administrative units so that the Bahá’ís could learn to think and function in an administrative manner. The biggest group—united under the umbrella of the National Spiritual Assembly of North-West Africa, with its secretarial seat in Tunis, Tunisia—comprised no less than 25 territories, namely, Algeria, Ashanti Protectorate, British Cameroons, British Togoland, Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, French Cameroons, French Morocco, French Togoland, French West Africa, the Gambia, Gold Coast, Liberia, Madeira, Morocco (International Zone), Nigeria, Northern Territories Protectorate, Portuguese Guinea, Rio de Oro, St. Thomas Island, Sierra Leone, Spanish Guinea, Spanish Morocco, Spanish Sahara and Tunisia. In spite of this impressive list there were only about 1,000 Bahá’ís in this vast area and the National Body rested on 38 Local Assemblies; thanks to Shoghi Effendi, however, Tunis had its own National Bahá’í Headquarters, and Bomi Hills, in Liberia, was the proud possessor of the only endowment; Enoch Olinga was elected chairman of this new Body. It seems unbelievable that in the brief space of three years, of the thirty—three virgin territories throughout Africa to be opened to the Faith, twenty-nine had already received pioneers.

In the heart of Enoch burned the great desire to make the pilgrimage to the World Centre and meet his beloved Guardian in person. Permission was finally asked and granted by Shoghi Effendi who, as was his custom, set a date by week, in other words Enoch was informed he would be welcome as a pilgrim in the first week of February 1957. Dr. Ugo Giachery, Hand of the Cause and member—at~large Of the International Bahá’í Council in Haifa, was residing in Rome; he has given us this endearing image of Enoch: he arrived from Tunis the morning of l February 1957, ‘he was young, lean, lovable at first sight and believing that this Hand of the Cause could perform miracles. He had an old English passport that had expired some years before, and practically not a penny (of any currency) in his pocket. I took him to the

[Page 625]IN MEMORIAM

British . . . Consulate. The wax-moustached Consul, for a solid twenty minutes, denied the possibility to renew the passport. I had told Enoch not to say anything but recite the Remover Of Difficulties . . . When I said that Mr. Olinga had been called by the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, t0 Haifa, the Consul opened a drawer of his desk, took a voluminous dossier with blue pages, leafed them with great attention and then said: “Ithink I can do it." With the valid passport in hand we rushed to the Israeli Embassy for the visa, which was granted immediately. Then I thought that Enoch could be hungry and asked him if he was. “Yes”, he said; he had not eaten from the night before . . . Dear, dear Enoch, he had stolen our hearts!’

Enoch, in his wide travels all over the world, often had recourse to the ‘Remover of Difficulties”. I remember once his telling me that at the end of a long trip, as he went to embark for Uganda, the air company employee who was weighing him in said he was overweight and must pay so and so much excess baggage; Enoch said he was on his way home after a long trip and just did not have the money; she said he must either pay or leave his luggage behind. Whereupon, standing there in the airline queue, he drew out his prayer book and began to read a prayer to himself. The girl said, ‘What are you doing!’ Enoch said: ‘I am praying, what else can I do?’ She was so non-plussed by this she waved him and his baggage on with no extra payment.

On 3 February Enoch arrived in Haifa and left on the 13th; he stayed in the Oriental Pilgrim House near the Shrines on Mount Carmel, which meant Shoghi Effendi was going to treat him as an oriental pilgrim; the men who stayed there had the privilege of not only taking walks in the gardens with the Guardian but the great blessing of always visiting the Shrines with him and hearing him chant the Tablets of Visitation in his wonderfully melodious voice; to add to this privilege Enoch was most of the time alone; naturally Shoghi Effendi spoke to him in English. Sometimes Enoch would recall his first impressions, how anxiously he waited to be called to the presence of his Guardian, how he could not imagine what Shoghi Effendi would be like or how he would look but then

625

discovered with what majesty he spoke and that when he saw him walking ‘he walked like a king’ and one knew it was his to command, that he held the authority. Enoch told his children Shoghi Effendi was like a lion, but at the same time very gentle; he reported an experience common to a great many pilgrims. that he found before he had a chance to ask his questions, Shoghi Effendi had answered them. Unlike most pilgrims, however, when the Guardian said goodbye to him he kissed him on both cheeks.

Few pilgrims, indeed, left the Holy Land without their visits to the Shrines and their meetings with the Guardian beginning to work a change in them; Enoch was no exception; the love showered upon him by Shoghi Effendi, the illuminating quality of his conversation, profoundly affected Enoch’s whole life; whereas before he was a needle jumping about in the direction of north, he now became like an adjusted compass oriented firmly to the Centre of his Faith, his Guardian, his true king. He went back to West Africa enkindled, reassured, more mature. Excerpts from two of Enoch’s letters to me, written in 1956 and 1957, vividly reflect the depths of his attachment to Shoghi Effendi: ‘Please, will you remember me to the beloved Guardian and tell him how much we all love him'; ‘Having visited and prayed in the Blessed Shrines, gazed on the holy face of our Guardian and heard his melodious voice, I am sure a new day has dawned upon me!”

A letter written on 15 February 1957, on behalf of the Guardian to Musa Banam’, expressed ‘his pleasure with the visit on his pilgrimage of the first African Bahá’í of the Ten Year Crusade—in fact, the first Negro Bahá’í from Africa. Enoch Olinga has achieved many victories for the Faith; first in his work in Uganda; then by pioneering in the British Cameroons, becoming a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh there. Five of his spiritual children went from the Cameroons, to Virgin areas of the Ten Year Crusade, thus becoming themselves, Knights of Bahá’u’lláh. He himself has confirmed 300 souls, with five Assemblies. The Guardian considers this unique in the history of the Crusade, in both the East and West; and he has blessed the one who so selflessly served, and won these victories for

[Page 626]626

the Cause of God, by naming him “Abu’lFutfih”, the “Father of Victories“. The Guardian felt you and Ali would be pleased to know this, as he was Ali‘s spiritual child‘

For various reasons, economic and otherwise, Enoch’s wife and children had remained in East Africa; now, however, with his election to the North—West African National Spiritual Assembly and his ever-incr’easing teaching activities. it seemed he was permanently settled in West Africa, and shortly after his return from pilgrimage he went back to Uganda to fetch them. It was on 2 October 1957, at the time of this visit, that Mr. Bananr’ received a cable from Shoghi Effendi requesting him to inform Enoch Olinga, as well as two pioneers serving in Africa—John Robarts and William Sears—of their ELEVATION RANK HAND CAUSE, adding FEEL CONFIDENT HIGH DISTINCTION WILL ENABLE THEM ENRICH RECORD THEIR MERITORIOUS SERVICES. Enoch was summoned to that same home where he had accepted the Faith and the Guardian’s cable placed in his hands; he read it and then prostrated himself flat on the floor, a mark in Africa of deep submission to one’s Liege.

It must be remembered that for Enoch and the seven other Hands of the Cause appointed by Shoghi Effendi at the same time, his death, one month later, coming as it did so swiftly upon the already stunning news of being raised to the rank of a Hand, was a tremendous shock; before they could do more than acknowledge this new station conferred upon them, their guide and ‘true brother’ was gone! Enoch cabled Shoghi Effendi on 4 October, BELOVED’S HOLY MESSAGE JUST RECEIVED BENUMBED MY FACULTIES. WITH MUCH SUBMISSIVENESS AND HUMBLENESS l ACCEPT DlVlNE FAVOUR FEEL DEEPLY GRATEFUL BELOVED’S SACRED WISHES FOR OUR PROGRESS BESEECH HIS PRAYERS FOR CONFIRMATION GUIDANCE AND SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT. DEVOTEDLY ENOCH OLINGA.

Returning to live in Victoria with his family, Enoch’s teaching activities throughout West Africa continued on an ever-wider scale; all the British territories in that region were controlled and administered from Nigeria and many new converts were brought into the Faith. by him in that country, which he frequently visited, as well as in the Cameroons. His oldest son, George, recalls that during those West African years his father was

THE BAHA

’1’ WORLD

often absent on very long teaching trips outside the country; Enoch himself mentions Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia ‘to mention’, he says, ‘but a few’, where he was ‘instrumental in guiding many souls to the Cause of God’. The Vivid stories he told his family when he returned stimulated the children‘s interest in the Faith; sometimes, if he was only on a week-end trip in the Cameroons, he took George with him. Not only was his service to the Faith a special thing for Enoch but in his home there was always a special place for his treasured photographs of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi and places with sacred associations. All this implanted in the hearts of his children a similar love and respect; all of them grew to be staunch Bahá’ís.

Although the formalities required to attend the beloved Guardian’s funeral in London prevented Enoch from being present, he was able to join his fellow Hands at their first Conclave held immediately after Shoghi Effendi’s passing, in Bahjf, on 18 November 1957, and to be present at all the others. In spite of the fact that Enoch had the gift of words and was a brilliant public speaker, he was remarkably silent, I remember, during our meetings, following carefully the long hours and days of discussion in two languages, English and Persian, keeping his own counsel deep in his heart, making up his own mind. When one remembers he was a new Bahá’í of only four years’ experience, that he was a young man only thirty-one years old‘—our baby Hand—one must realize that these were years of great stress for him; they were terrible years of stress for his much older peers, many of whom were born Bahá’ís!

One of Enoch’s most endearing qualities was his laugh, a great, joyous, consuming and contagious laugh. His fellow Hands were not slow to appreciate this and went so far as to save up funny stories the whole year so they could tell them to Enoch at the next Conclave; God knows our hearts and minds were weighted down enough with our responsibilities and problems so the laughter at our dining table was a welcome relief for often sad and exhausted minds, but sometimes they made Enoch laugh so much that I scolded them, saying they would make him ill; of course others laughed too—but not like Enoch,

[Page 627]IN MEMORIAM

who would begin by chuckling and end up convulsed.

Ever since his pilgrimage Enoch and I had become very close; some of the Hands slept in Bahjí’ while others returned for the night to Haifa; Enoch and I were among those who always remained in Bahjí’ during the entire Conclave; I remember once, when we had a regular plague of snails devouring the gardens, I insisted that the Hands come out and pick snails, giving them buckets and bowls to put them in: in the bright moonlight about eight of us started down the borders in front of the Shrine; eventually when I turned around I found everyone had sneaked off, only faithful Enoch and I were still gathering snails!

Those years from 1957 until 1963—when Enoch returned to live in East Africa—were in many ways very difficult for him; his relations with Eunice, his first wife, were going from bad to worse; finally, after about three years, she returned to East Africa, but the children remained with him; a divorce was obtained in 1961 and in 1963 Enoch went to Nairobi with his second wife, Elizabeth, by whom he had two children, Lennie and Táhirih.

While still resident in West Africa Enoch returned to Kampala to attend the historic occasion of the laying of the foundation stone of the Mother Temple of Africa on 14 January 1958; he took part in the African Teaching Conference held concurrently with that event, he and I sharing the platform of the public meeting; a week later the impressive Bahá’í African Intercontinental Conference, called by the Guardian, was held in Kampala—one of five similar conferences marking the midway point of his World Crusade; Enoch was chairman of one of its sessions and speaker at another, his theme: ‘The Vital Process of Individual Conversion.‘

All these events and pressures on Enoch’s life were—as should be the case for each of us—shaping his character, helping him to grow spiritually into his own potentialities, maturing him into a truly great man, but not without suffering, anxiety and descending into valleys as well as scaling mountains. In a letter to me on 13 October 1963 Enoch wrote from Nigeria: ‘1 am now on my way to Nairobi where I intend to make my home’, and where he says he will have ‘to overcome many

627

difficulties which are bound to come my way’; he asks for prayers for his ‘weak, frail and helpless self . . . the pain I experience these days is big . . . pray for me that I may rise above the present mental and soul-destroying condition in which I sadly find myself. . .’ He always supplicated his beloved Blessed Perfection, ‘I know He will help me to disintegrate the wall which surrounds my entire being and which I am struggling to break.’ Dark years of upheaval for Enoch.

He finally returned to live in his native village of Tilling in Teso, Uganda, and build a house there for his family. Gradually, through the loving guidance of the Universal House of Justice‘ he once again began to travel widely for the Faith. Like other Hands of the Cause, he often represented the House of Justice at International Conferences and inaugural Conventions of new National Spiritual Assemblies all over the world. His travels to these, as well as many long tours undertaken in all the continents of the globe, were a source of happiness to both Enoch and the thousands of believers who met him; he grew steadily into his maturity. He was a very intelligent man, a very eloquent, self—possessed speaker; he was both dignified and urbane in his handling of officials and the media. Enoch had presence; it is hard to describe because there was something very African about it, the ‘presence’ of a big chief, who is both a father-figure and rules. He was sincerely kind, loving and interested in other people and they felt thishigh and low alike—and responded. That big, spontaneous laugh was also there, to carry others on with it in a great relaxing wave of sheer mirth‘

The Hands of the Faith chose Enoch to be chairman of the opening session of the beloved Guardian’s Bahá’í World Congress, held from 28 April to 2 May 1963, commemorating the end of his great Ten Year Plan, his World Crusade. About 7,000 Bahá’ís were present, from most of the territories and major islands of the world, gathered in the beautiful Albert Hall of London. The big, black Enoch was a befitting figure to stand before such a motley crowd on such an historic occasion!

Enoch met many heads of state as he visited different countries; one of the most interesting interviews he ever had was with the Dalai

[Page 628]628

Lama in October 1968, in his retreat at Dharamsala in India; the party were first thoroughly searched by the Lama’s security people, and after some delays. received by His Holiness, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and to them the reincarnation of Buddha. He was surprised and interested to see these guests who included a black African, his wife and daughter, an Englishman and two Indians. Although he spoke through a translator, it was evident that he understood English; he commented that they were all different people, to which Enoch replied, ‘Yes, but we are all of the same family’, and went on to elaborate this theme and also to give an account of Bahá’u’lláh’s exiles, imprisonment and sufferings, which struck a deep chord of sympathy in his host. Their visit lasted over an hour—which was unusual—and His Holiness showed them excessive courtesy; there was no doubt of the impression Enoch had made on him as he set forth many of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings.

The common sense and wisdom of Enoch are nowhere better exemplified than in the conversations his Persian daughter-in-law Forough Ehsani, a pioneer in Uganda, has recorded having with her much-loved fatherin—law in connection with her marriage to his son George. In Tilling Enoch had a special office of his own, his ‘prayer room’, in which were his pictures of the Master and the Guardian and things that were dear to him; there he often spoke with her. It was in this room one day that he asked her if she was sure she wanted to marry George: “‘Do you like to marry him? . . . marriage is not so easy. You have to be careful. Have you thought of the future and how the difficulties will be? You are different, from different homes and country, do you in your heart accept that? Do you really like that?” Many times he asked and I said, “Yes, I do.” So he hugged and kissed me and said, “The rest is with Bahá’u’lláh, He will solve the problems.”‘ A day came when a crisis arose; after her child was born, during the first year of her marriage, a serious misunderstanding between her and a member of the family took place; she was so distressed she took up the child and left the house. ‘Enoch’, she said, ‘sent one of his sons after me with this message: “Tell Forough to come and leave the child in this house, and

THE Bahá’í’ WORLD

whenever she wants to go. she can go.” ’ When she confronted Enoch she said: “But this child is mine!’ Enoch replied, “No. this child belongs to this family; if you have a misunderstanding you solve it with the members of the family. You cannot mix up the child with your problem and somebody else’s problem. Leave the child and then we can solve it all together. Don’t-mix up the child with this problem.’ She remembers that: ‘When he said that I felt my knees shaking! I put the child down and said. “But how can I go without my first child?”, and then he told me, “When your anger has dropped, you come to my office. I want to see you. not with George. you only.” George remained quiet throughout, praying inwardly that all would resolve itself. She went to Enoch’s office, in what must have been a terrible upheaval for all of them; he reminded her how, before her marriage, he had warned her there would be problems; earnestly, looking into her eyes he said: ‘Forough my dear, your behaving as you did, taking the child out and not solving the problem, does not help you, does not help me, and especially does not help the Faith. You know that whatever you are doing from today should help the Faith, the name of the Faith. And you know the slightest problem between you and George, how it can damage the Faith. Will you please think this way and forget the rest!” Forough recalls: ‘He completely changed me. He said a prayer, he hugged me, and he cried. He cried and I felt thewetness of his crying, and he said, “Please, please help the Faith!"’ She rejoined the family. was completely reconciled, and from then on harmony prevailed. Enoch had impressed on her the greatest lesson of all—the Faith comes first.

There followed many years of active service; Enoch, often accompanied by his Wife Elizabeth—herself a devoted and active believertravelled widely, visiting and stimulating the Bahá’ís, meeting high officials, bringing the Faith before the public and the media. His children grew up, two daughters married Bahá’í pioneers, George and Forough had two more children. Although the Olinga home was in Teso, after the death of Mr. Banani, Enoch purchased the historic house in which the Banani—Nalgij avani family had lived for so many years in Kampala, the home in

[Page 629]IN MEMORIAM

which he himself had accepted the Faith and learned of his elevation to the rank of Hand of the Cause.

To enumerate in detail his services and travels from 1958 until his death in 1979 is impossible; long and authoritative biographies are required to recount the exploits of the Hands of the Cause appointed by Shoghi Effendi; only a glance at Enoch’s major activities during those years is included here. He attended three of the 1958 mid—way point of the World Crusade continental conferences called for by Shoghi Effendi, namely, that of Africa, held in Kampala; Europe, held in Frankfurt; and Asia, held in Singapore. After the latter he made a tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa and Pakistan, it being the policy of the Hands to make as wide and economic use as possible of the visit of a fellow Hand to attend conferences or conventions by visiting, going and coming, as many centres as possible throughout the area. In 1960 Enoch visited many places in West and North Africa, Sicily and Italy; in 1961, after representing the Hands of the Cause at the inaugural Bahá’í Conventions in Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Cuba, he toured the Greater Antilles and Central America for four months; in 1962 he travelled extensively in East Africa, the Sudan, Ethiopia and the Congo (now Zaire); in 1964 he represented the Universal House of Justice at the inaugural Conventions of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Indian Ocean, in Mauritius, and South Central Africa, in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe); in 1967 he represented the Universal House of Justice at the inaugural Convention of the National Spiritual Assembly of Swaziland, Lesotho and Mozambique; in 1968 Enoch attended the large Mediterranean Bahá’í Conference held in Palermo, Sicily, and—like most of his fellow Handswas present at the glorious celebration in Bahjí of the one hundredth anniversary of Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival in ‘Akká as a prisoner; also in 1968 when Enoch was received by the Dalai Lama at his headquarters in India he visited many Bahá’í centres in that vast subcontinent; in 1969 Enoch represented the Universal House of Justice at the election of the first National Spiritual Assembly of Burundi and Rwanda; in 1970 he represented the Universal House of Justice at the formation

629

of the first National Spiritual Assembly of Upper West Africa, making later that same year an extensive tour of South America, Central America and the Antilles, passing through the United States and visiting many centres there; he then proceeded to the Pacific where he visited the Solomon Islands and Japan, attending in January 1971, as representative of the Universal House of Justice, the South China Seas Oceanic Conference in Singapore, and later that same year fulfilling the same function at the inaugural Convention of the National Spiritual Assembly of Chad; in 1971 Enoch represented the Universal House of Justice at the first Convention of the National Spiritual Assembly of Iceland and afterwards exhaustively toured the Bahá’í communities in Scandinavia, Britain and Italy, visiting Persia with Elizabeth in July to pay his homage to the House of the Báb in Shíráz and other Bahá’í historic sites. Enoch was becoming increasingly preoccupied with Africa as the problems of that continent steadily augmented: in 1973—1974 he went on a five—month teaching trip to twelve countries of West Africa; 1975 saw him back in that area to attend, as the representative of the Universal House of Justice, three inaugural Conventions during the Riḍván period—not an unheard of event as other Hands on occasion duplicated such efforts—for the election of the National Spiritual Assemblies of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, and Upper West Africa; during this same year Enoch again toured twelve West African countries, assisting them to win their goals. and, returning to Uganda, spent the remainder of that year as well as the opening months of 1976 intensively working amongst the Bahá’í communities there. During the summer of that year Enoch also revisited eight countries of West Africa before representing the Universal House of Justice, in January 1977. at the International Teaching Conference held in Brazil and later attending a similar conference in Mérida, Mexico, visiting some other countries in the western hemisphere, and returning from the New World to Africa in time'to represent the Universal House of Justice at the inaugural Convention of the National Spiritual Assembly of Upper Volta. Having revisited various neighbouring countries, Enoch returned to Uganda to devote the

[Page 630]630

remaining two years of his life to protecting, comforting, stimulating and preserving the endangered Bahá’í community of his native land, in the bitter throes of a terrible civil war, the aftermath of which eventually led to his own death.

News of the banning of the Faith in September 1977—the official dissolution of all its administrative bodies and activitiesreached Enoch in Kampala; he is reported to have said: ‘No! No one can ban the Faith of God . . .’ For the Bahá’ís it was a shocking and heartbreaking experience, the more so because the first Temple of Africa stood on Kikaya Hill, on the outskirts of Kampala, and the Ugandan believers had always been a distinguished and thriving community. Enoch drafted a letter to the President, which he and the secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly delivered to the President’s office, calling his attention to the nature and status of the Faith and the respect it had always enjoyed in Uganda. This and other petitions had no effect whatsoever.

Enoch’s deep study of the Teachings and wide experience made him an ideal shield for the Cause of God during that crucial period; realizing the hopelessness of protest and petition, he set himself to do three things: to ensure that the believers obeyed the government implicitly; to encourage them and keep alive their faith; to protect the Bahá’í properties and remove to a safe place its sacred and irreplaceable archive materials, which he stored in Tilling. Immediately following the edict Enoch and Mr. Isimai, the secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly, had closed the National Headquarters at the Temple site, refusing even to sell Bahá’í books. There can be little doubt that this complete obedience to the government decree, conforming as it did with the explicit instructions of Bahá’u’lláh Himself that Bahá’ís must obey their governments, was the best possible way of protecting the precious Temple, which was never confiscated, occupied or damaged, but left in the custody of the Bahá’ís.

Following upon the banning of the Faith, the Universal House of Justice made the Hand of the Cause and the two Counsellors, Oloro Epyeru and Kolonario Oule, responsible for the guidance and protection of the Ugandan community, a duty they discharged

’I‘HE BAHA’I’ WORLD

with great devotion until the Universal House of Justice was able to re-establish an administrative body in August 1979.

As the months went by Uganda sank ever deeper into bitter civil war, terrorism and chaos, in the tide of which Enoch and his family were eventually so tragically engulfed. It should be remembered that Enoch was not only a famous Bahá’í the first African Hand of the Cause and one of the only two Negro Hands, the other being Louis Gregory of the United States—but also a well-known, capable, prosperous business man, with relatives and friends in high positions. As a consequence of this prominence he was a target for subversive elements. His son George recalls his father’s telling him, even before the war broke out, that he had discovered his name was on a list due for ‘elimination’ in Teso. During those crucial times Enoch often said he would never leave Uganda, never run away.

In March 1979, when the war of liberation was gaining momentum day by day, he decided to motor from Tilling to Kampala, a distance of some 300 kilometres; his uncle came to remonstrate with him, pointing out the dangers, and urging him not to go, but Enoch was not dissuaded and said: ‘What do I have to fear? Did the Báb run away? Did Bahá’u’lláh run away? Did ‘Abdu’l-Bahá run away?’, and described how wonderful it was to die a true believer, that if the veil were lifted between this world and the next we would yearn to die.

On the way to Kampala he met with a terrible automobile accident when an army lorry struck his car, knocking it off the road into a gorge, where it rolled over and over; he was also robbed of a large sum of money. This occurred on the 25th; that night, as Enoch and his family prayed together in their Kampala home, he assured them that were it not for Bahá’u’lláh, he would most certainly have died from such an accident. As if this were not enough shock for the family to bear, two days later Enoch’s son Badi vanished without a trace; a week later, however, he returned unscathed; it seemed soldiers had hijacked him and his pick-up for a job out of town, later releasing him. After Badi disappeared, as the situation in the city became increasingly dangerous, the Olingas went up to the Temple

[Page 631]IN MEMORIAM 631

property, about 10 kilometres away, a long and exhausting walk for Enoch, who was still in great pain after his accident. By 6 April he decided to send his youngest child, Táhirih, with her mother back to Tilling—which they were fortunate to reach alive as the train was strafed by bullets many times on the way. Miraculously Badi returned safely at this time and Enoch promptly sent him and his brother Patrick after them. He himself was too weak as a result of the accident to make the arduous trip back to Tilling.

Enoch now returned alone to his home on Kitante Road. By 10 April thousands of people were in flight from Kampala, which was being heavily bombarded; once again Enoch was persuaded to seek refuge on the Temple property and made his painful way there, on foot, struggling against the frightened crowds of people leaving the city. All that night a fierce artillery battle raged around Kikaya Hill; he spent the night praying and wondering what was happening to the House of Worship and if he would ever see the dawn. The next day, however, the Temple still stood unscathed and the longed-for news was broadcast that Amin’s government had been defeated. Enoch and another believer hastened to the Mother Temple of Africa, opened all the nine doors and offered prayers of thanksgiving to Bahá’u’lláh. How appropriate, how mysterious, that dear Enoch, who had been present at the cornerstone-laying of the Temple in 1958, should with his own hands throw open those doors!

The following day Enoch went to Kampala, anxious for the safety of his house, as both the soldiers and the local population were extensively looting the city; he arrived to see it being stripped bare and narrowly escaped being shot as he was accused of being one of Amin’s men—an accusation which fortunately he successfully refuted! There being nothing he could do, he returned to the Temple where his protection was essential during those wholly lawless days of transition. Elizabeth and his children were eager to rejoin him. so he decided to restore and refurnish his home.

Although the ban on the Faith was not officially lifted for some months, the situation had entirely changed and the Universal House of Justice decided to appoint an interim administrative body to gradually reorganize

Bahá’í activities and take charge of Bahá’í properties in preparation for the time when the National Spiritual Assembly could be reelected. The first meeting of this Uganda Administrative Committee would take place on 25—26 August in the National Headquarters; the derelict state of this and other buildings at the Temple site distressed Enoch very much and with few to help him, he set about preparing the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, cleaning it up, arranging the offices and files, even going so far as to himself assist in washing the floors. For Enoch service always meant doing what needed to be done. He was radiantly happy over this event; when the Committee members gathered, each was presented with the gift ofa new prayer book, with passages marked to be read, for Enoch had a ‘well-worked-out and soul-stirring devotional programme”; the group then proceeded to the Mashriqu’l-Acflkar for the solemn inauguration of their historic function, and afterwards visited the grave of the Hand of the Cause Musa Banani, who is buried in its vicinity. Enoch was invited to chair the first meeting and read the letter of the Universal House of Justice appointing the Committee and outlining its functions; he then observed that they were now ‘an arm of the Universal House of Justice stretched over Uganda’ and called upon them at all times to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to assist them. On the second day Enoch again was invited to act as chairman; he outlined their duties, stressing the crying needs of the Bahá’í community throughout the country and the serious condition of the Temple property, which had perforce been neglected and suffered depredations—telephone connections, water supply, lawn mowers, office equipment, all required urgent attention.

Enoch’s son George, recalling his father’s last days. says he spent most of his time on Kikaya Hill; he was happy, the formation of the new Uganda Administrative Committee had lifted a great burden; after all the years of frustration and anxiety, at last the administrative edifice of the Faith was again raised and he told some of the friends that this was such a relief, he was ready to die. He loved serving the Temple, cleaning and sweeping it out on Saturdays so it would be ready for the Sunday morning public service; many times he himself would slash away at the overgrown

[Page 632]632

lawns surrounding it with the heavy panga knife, working to the point of exhaustion. When he heard the lawn mowers had at last been procured in Nairobi for this work he was delighted as now the much-neglected, beautiful gardens cou1d be gradually restored.

The strain and horror of the months of violent war had particularly affected the health and spirits of Enoch‘s youngest 'child, Táhirih, who was approaching her fifteenth birthday. It was the family custom of the Olingas to gather together on holidays and special occasions, and Elizabeth and Enoch decided a reunion should take place around the week—end of Sunday, 16 September, which they hoped, in addition to all being together again, would cheer Táhirih up. Forough was in her late pregnancy and had been badly beaten and kicked when soldiers broke into her home in Fort Portal; she did not know if the baby still lived, and after this attack she and George and the children went to Enoch’s home in Kampala, where Forough saw a doctor; Elizabeth, however, was not satisfied and insisted that George must take her to a Bahá’í doctor in Mombasa, Kenya, for examination and treatment, and gave her some money to purchase while there a skirt and blouse for Táhirih as there was nothing to be obtained in Uganda. Enoch told them he would be expecting them back for the family reunion; all of this took place about three weeks before his death.

Enoch did not attend the second meeting of the Uganda Administrative Committee, which was held on 15 September in the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, the Counsellor, Mr. Kolonario Oule having specially come from Teso to discuss certain matters with them. In the Kitante Road house only Táhirih‘ Lennie and Badi were with their parents that week-end; George and his family were still in Kenya, Patrick was delayed on a job in Teso and Godwin was also late in getting home. The arrival of these three sons of Enoch was delayed, seemingly by trivial circumstances, yet thus their lives were saved, for had they returned earlier they would surely have been murdered with the rest. It was the custom of the family in those disturbed times to always leave someone inside the home to protect it, in addition to the houseboy who also acted as gardener and lived next to the house in a

'I‘HE BAHA’I’ WORLD

separate building. On that Sunday, however, 16 September. Forough reports, Enoch insisted they should take a picnic lunch and all of them go to Kikaya Hill for the day.

Mrs. Catherine Kabali, an Auxiliary Board member, was an eyewitness to the events of those days. The friends were going to the Temple grounds earlier than usual because the Hand of the Cause was going to brief them on the situation of the persecuted Bahá’ís in Tran. She describes Enoch. in his white suit. with his ‘brilliant and dignified face’, joyfully joining the singing in the Temple service of a Swahili offering, ‘Be happy, be happy, because it is the day of oneness today!‘ Some Bahá’í young people had come down from Teso with Mr. Oule to help clean up the Temple property and later in the day they provided music; Enoch and Elizabeth joined in the dancing; when Táhirih hung back shyly her parents swept her into the dance too and all danced and danced. Mrs. Kabali writes: ‘I remember Elizabeth dancing, waving her hands, not knowing yet she will leave this world tonight. She waved and waved, saying goodbye}

When the family returned home, neighbours later mentioned, Mr. Olinga had seemed in a very good mood, walking about his garden, waving to them and saying ‘hello’. After the terrible events of that night the Counsellor, Mr. Peter Vuyiya arrived in Kampala from Nairobi a few days later. His report conveys an accurate observation of the situation in the city at that time, the background against which the terrible drama of Enoch’s murder took place: ‘Staying in the middle of the town, I had the full effect of the state of anarchy in Kampala at night . . . it was impossible to tell the police Kombis from any other that might have been responsible for murders in the city and its environs. Every night, however, brought with it' the murder of yet another family.’ He wisely adds: ‘With so much speculation regarding what may have been the motive of the murders, I have thought it more safe to steer clear of the questions why, when and how the murders took place.’ With surety we will never know—as with all evil deeds, unwitnessed, in nights of terror and chaos throughout history.

From many first-hand accounts, however, the following events of that terrible crime

[Page 633]IN MEMORIAM

seem clear: the family had its evening meal together—the houseboy had seen them about to serve it; the dishes were neatly stacked in the kitchen sink as usual, where they were found the next day; the houseboy stated that he was in his room when, about 8.30, he heard someone shaking the gate to the compound and, looking through the window, saw five armed men walking towards the back door leading to the kitchen (it is believed a sixth man was left to guard the gate). They shouted ‘Open’ and banged on the door. Lennie opened the door and there was a sound of shots; the houseboy fled over the fence to hide in the neighbour’s bushes and remained there in terror all night, seeing nothing but hearing shooting and other sounds going on for about two hours; at dawn he ventured out of hiding. went to the house, seeing the body of Enoch lying in the courtyard and inside, all in an inner bedroom, the bodies of Elizabeth, Táhirih, Lennie and Badi, heaped on the floor where they had fallen when shot to death. People were beginning to gather outside and they told him he should inform the police, which he did, and then, with singular loyalty to Enoch and his family, went to Kikaya Hill to give the news. Mr. Oule from Teso, who was sleeping on the Temple property, was informed of the unbelievable tragedy which had taken place; it was only because he wished to go at dawn to the Temple for prayers—not having been in Kampala for some time—that he was not killed also for he invariably stayed in Enoch’s home. Mr. Oule, the Board member Catherine Kabali, and her sister Edith Senoga—who both lived on Kikaya Hill—then rushed to the home of Enoch. Their horror and grief at what they found was indescribable. It is greatly to the credit of the African friends in Kampala that, crushed and overwhelmed as they were by this truly staggering tragedy—a tragedy which shocked the Bahá’í world to its furthest corners—they went into action immediately and efficiently in spite of their personal, heartrending grief.

The oldest pioneer, Claire Gung, frail and in her seventies, was at once informed and was able to telephone Nairobi and give the news. George and his family had motored up on the 16th from Mombasa to Nairobi and at the National Headquarters found a telegram

633

from Enoch giving a list of spare parts for his car he wished them to bring in addition to a number of other things he had ordered. Planning to buy these things and then proceed to Kampala—an eight-hour drive—George and Forough went shopping in the city. It was while they were absent the news came from Kampala; the Counsellor, Peter Vuyiya was there and was able to telephone the Universal House of Justice, which was in session at the time, and speak to Enoch’s spiritual father, ‘Ah’ Nak_hjavanf. If anything could be considered fortunate during so much calamity it was this, that the House of Justice was in a position to immediately instruct the friends that the Counsellor Kolonario Oule, together with the Uganda Administrative Committee, whose members were already gathered in Kampala, should take charge of the situation, make all necessary arrangements and ensure that a befitting funeral for the Hand of the Cause and his family would take place.

The problem facing the Bahá’ís in Nairobi was how to break the news to George and Forough. To blurt it out was beyond the capacity of these loving friends, so the National secretary wrote a short, most tender letter of condolence, explaining what had occurred and it was handed to George and Forough when they came back to the Centre. George’s one desire was to reach his father and do everything necessary. In spite of remonstrances, the family left for Kisumu that same afternoon and that night George, to his great comfort, was able to talk to ‘Ah’ Nalgjavani in Haifa. The next morning, well knowing nothing was available in Uganda, they bought the material for the five shrouds and left for Kampala. In the midst of lamentation and shock, the surviving sons, Patrick and Godwin, joined George; Enoch’s two older daughters, Grace and Florence, married and living abroad, hastened to Kampala with their husbands, as did Forough’s brother; already friends and relatives had arrived from Teso on the night of the 17th, including the Counsellor. Oloro Epyeru, who had been prevented by illness from coming to Kampala for the meetings of the Uganda Administrative Committee; everyone shared the grief of the children, everyone came to be present at the funeral; the harassed family, for over a week, fed from eighty to one hundred and fifty

[Page 634]634

people a day in the Kitante Road home. The bodies of the slain Olingas had been removed to a hospital pending arrangements for the burial. During the hours of curfew every night the city was still racked with gunfire and acts of terrorism. including the murder of many other entire families. Indeed, during that week Enoch’s home was subjected one night to heavy gunfire, everyone in the house lying on the floor for protection; fortunately no one was injured and the police put a guard on the building. To make all the arrangements, procure suitable coffins, dig five graves on Kikaya Hill, get the authorities to provide police escort for the funeral cortege. find transportation for the coffins, the family and the large throng of mourners—it all required truly herculean efforts.

In the world press the murder of Enoch received wide notice: ‘A world leader of the Bahá’í religious sect, his wife and three children were murdered in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Sunday', it spread like wildfire; the Ugandan radio, on 17 September, broadcast the news in six vernacular languages so that the Bahá’ís throughout the country might be informed of the fate of the ‘Father of Victories’.

On the- morning of 24 September—which coincided with Táhirih’s birthday—the five coffins were removed from the mortuary of the hospital and taken to Enoch’s home where, flower-draped, they were placed in the sitting—room; prayers were read, and many people came to pay their last respects; by 12.15 the funeral procession was ready to leave for Kikaya Hill, two motorcycle policemen preceding it, then a car carrying the Counsellors, followed by the car carrying the coffin of the Hand of the Cause which was followed by another one carrying Elizabeth’s coffin and a third carrying the three coffins of the children. It was only through the cooperation of many non-Bahá’í friends that this transport had been procured. Followed by cars bearing the family, the cortege went slowly along Gayaza Road towards the Temple; hundreds of people lined the streets, some wept while some were heard to cry: ‘Look at the bodies! Eh, eh, another one! Oh, another one!’ A wave of public sympathy swept the crowd. With great respect the five coffins were placed in a row in the hall of the

THE BAHA

I’WORLD

National Headquarters, flowers laid upon them, and a beautiful and uplifting funeral service held; a number of prominent Ugandan officials, friends of Enoch and admirers of the Faith, attended it. In a burial plot not far from the Temple on Kikaya Hill Enoch Olinga was laid to rest next to Mt’lsé Banéni, his fellow Hand; the one designated the ‘Spiritual Conqueror of Africa’ was joined in death by the ‘Father of Victories’. Nearby Elizabeth and Táhirih, Badi and Lennie were placed in their graves.

To the Bahá’ís of the world the Universal House of Justice announced Enoch’s passing:

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 BADl. LENNIE AND TAHIRIH HAVE ALSO FALLEN lNNOCENT 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 BAHAULLAH FATHER VICTORIES CONFERRED BELOVED GUARDIAN ALL COMBINE DISTINGUISH HIM AS PREEMINENT MEMBER HIS RACE IN ANNALS FAITH AFRICAN CONTINENT. URGE FRIENDS EVERYWHERE HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERINGS BEFI'ITING TRIBUTE HIS IMPERISHABLE MEMORY. FERVENTLY PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HlS NOBLE SOUL AND SOULS FOUR MEMBERS HIS PRECIOUS FAMILY.

Enoch had an example he used to give to the Bahá’ís: he said all of us are like guitars; when a guitar hears of a great Divine Musician he hopes to be played upon by this Musician. He offers himself to the Supreme Musician. The Musician accepts him, takes the guitar close to Himself, plays upon it. But soon He finds the strings are out of tune. The Musician starts tuning one, winding the string tighter. The pressure is painful to the guitar, it resists the winding. Then instead of yielding, the string breaks. As it is the wish of the guitar to give forth the divine melody, the great Musician plays upon the strings that remain. But the tune is still wrong. So the Musician starts tuning another string. It resists and finally breaks. Still the guitar wishes to be played upon. The Musician plays upon these

[Page 635]IN MEMORIAM 635

Enoch 01inga with some members of his family; September 1979. The Hand of the Cause is third

from the left, third row; to the right, his wife, Elizabeth; front row, left to right, his children, Bali

and Táhirih, and daughter—in-lnw, Forough. In the second row, far left, is seen Counsellor

Kolonario Gale. The photograph was taken approximately two weeks before the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Olinga and three of their children.

fewer strings. Again and again a string needs tuning. Again and again the guitar refuses to yield to the winding, the pressure. At last only one string is left and to be faithful to the offer of the guitar the Divine Musician says, ‘I will play on this one string.’ But that too is out of tune. Again the winding, the terrible pressure, and this one string also breaks. Then the Musician has no choice but to lay the guitar aside. Thus are tests given by God to perfect us, not to destroy us. The destruction comes only from our resistance to the tuning. The purpose is not punishment but the intention to fulfil the desire of the guitar to be played upon.

How many tests Enoch surmounted, submitting in the Hands of his beloved Bahá’u’lláh, to the tuning of the Divine Musician, until finally the guitar was laid aside for good—but the music remains.

RUHfYYIH