Hand of the Cause Enoch Olinga (second from left) with members of his family; to his left, his daughter, Florence, a student at Tororo Girls' School; to his right, his wife, Elizabeth; and extreme right, his son, George (Baha'i News July 1972)
Enoch Olinga and his wife Elizabeth during a Baha'i conference in Brazil in 1977. (Baha'i News, December 1979)
Enoch Olinga was the first member of the Teso tribe to
declare his faith in Baha’u’llah in Uganda and one of the first three Africans
to become Baha’is. As Mrs. Banani, wife of the Hand of the Cause Musa Banani, in
whose home he declared his faith mentioned that he became a Baha'i through the prayers
of the Guardian. While on pilgrimage the Bananis had asked the Guardian to pray
for the success of a fireside which they were holding on a specific day. The
Guardian had assured them that he would do so, and on that evening in Africa,
Enoch Olinga made his declaration of faith.
Mr. Olinga was one of
the few fortunate Africans of his time to receive a complete education and as a
result was many times offered high positions in government. He refused post
after post in order to consecrate his life to the Cause, and out of respect for
the Baha'i principle of avoidance of involvement in politics.
In his first year as a Baha’i he brought many members of his
family and tribe into the Faith, and then received the great distinction of
being named by the Guardian a Knight of Baha'u'llah in recognition of his
pioneering to the Cameroons in the Ten Year Crusade. Many of those he taught in
Cameroon also pioneered, taking the Faith to other virgin territories in
Africa. This brought Mr. Olinga the appellation "Father of Victories"
from the Guardian.
In 1957, Enoch Olinga received the highest distinction the
Faith could confer when he was appointed a Hand of the Cause of God. Mr.
William and Mr. John Robarts were elevated to this same rank at that time, and
the three men became close friends and collaborators. Mr. Olinga many times
represented the Universal House of Justice at conferences throughout the globe
and carried the banner of the Cause to the indigenous peoples of earth. In 1970
he came to Canada to visit among the native believers of the West and the
Yukon.
(Baha’i Canada, vol. 2, no. 5, October 1979)
