My Comment
Government cannot legislate against
emerging Pentecostal churches
Religious Affairs Department in the Minisitry of Ethics and Integrity headed by Anglican Canon Aaron Mwesigye
Catholic Rev .Fr. Simon
Lokodo a catholic priest heads the Minisitry
of Ethics and Integrity
Apostle Tumwine Charles from
Pastor Joseph Serwada’s Born Again Faith Federation Supports policy to regulate
Pentecostal churches
Govt cannot legislate against emerging fellowships
http://observer.ug/viewpoint/53103-govt-cannot-legislate-against-emerging-fellowships.html
There are
three groups that have been involved in a simmering battle to control
the growing evangelical church movement in Uganda.
As long as they fought independently,
their efforts amounted to little. But the three groups have now found a
way to work together and the result of that cooperation is the proposed
policy to regulate faith-based organisations.
It is being drafted by the directorate
of ethics under the office of the president. If passed, the policy will
effectively put a leash around the necks of Born-Again churches and, by
extension, on their faithful.
At the apex of this scheme is an
invisible hand; a top politician who sees the Born-Again churches as a
political base. Consequently, his/her intention is to cluster them
together so that they can be swung one way or the other to suit his/her
political whims. Many top pastors are in his/her good books.
At the intermediary level is a church in
Nakasero that is dreadfully scared of losing its congregants to other
worship houses. This church has friends in high places helping it fight
its battles.
At the bottom of the rung is a pastor
who has struggled for years to be seen as the eminence of the Born-Again
faith. He prefers to call himself presiding apostle, whatever that
means. His ruthless thirst for power would make some career politicians
cringe. His church suffered when his deputy left with a big chunk of the
congregation and started a now-thriving separate ministry.
 |
| Dr. Joseph Serwada, the presiding apostle of BAFFE |
What forced the three groups to form a
united front is the emergence of midweek fellowships which they consider
existential threats. These fellowships, the biggest of which is Zoe,
led by Prophet Elvis Mbonye, attract thousands of faithful on weekdays
and are threatening the traditional Sunday church culture.
If the controversial policy is passed,
fellowships will ultimately be dismantled through denial of license to
congregate (that is the intention) and the three protagonists will have
vanquished their common enemy with one legislative blow.
The politician will have his/her
constituency, the church in Nakasero will hope that its congregants
return to their Sunday routine, and the presiding apostle will finally
be accorded full recognition as head of a religion and given all the
emoluments that come along with that; probably a Land Cruiser and the
chance to say official prayers at national functions.
But for the policy to be passed, the
public must be stupefied. That is why the media is suddenly awash with
stories of pastors fleecing their followers, burning copies of the
Bible; even the ghosts of Kanungu have been un-mummified, 17 years after
they were buried.
The truth in the proposed policy is a
political ploy crudely disguised as a response to public outcry. That is
why it is swathed in contradictions and its architects wanted to pass
it stealthily.
That is why it purports to cover all
religions yet, in reality, it is aimed at only evangelicals. That is why
the directorate claims to be doing consultations across the country but
is underhandedly threatening people who signed a petition to stop it.
That is why when my petition landed on
his desk, Canon Aaron Mwesigye, the head of religious affairs at the
directorate, called me to say: “You are wasting your paper and ink…this
policy came as a directive from the president.”
If, indeed, this is true (which I highly doubt), then shouldn’t we conclude that the ‘consultations’ are just a mockery?
Granted, there are so many bad apples in
the pastoral basket, but the truth is that government does not need
extra legislation to apprehend criminal actors within the church. Some
have already been charged in courts of law, many others can still be,
within existing laws.
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his
religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others
and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in
teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
There is no conceivable way in which
government or any of its arms can legislate against emerging weekday
fellowships without taking us back to the days of Idi Amin when certain
faiths were banned.
But here we find ourselves in a position
where a Catholic priest (Fr Simon Lokodo) and an Anglican prelate
(Canon Mwesigye) think they can (mis)use their positions at the ministry
of Ethics and Integrity to force believers back into their
denominational churches. That is not going to happen.
The author is the founder of Watchman Ministries, Kampala.
The author is the founder of Watchman Ministries, Kampala.
In the line of fire for exposing thievery, robbery and thuggery
in Uganda’s Pentecostal churches and Pastor Serwadda’s devilish ecumenism :
Pastor Bujingo blasts Robbing, cunning pastors : Born again KCCA’s Musisi
Evicts Pastor Bugingo From Bat Valley: Pastor Bugingo unhappy with Impregnated
Daughter and Catholic Son In-Law
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.ug/2015/07/in-line-of-fire-for-exposing-thievery.html
When the Children of Light Love to hide in Financial darkness : Pastor Livingstone Kiganda and Pastor Joseph Sserwanda attack Pastor Bujingo for revealing the money his church collected in 2016
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.ug/2017/01/Pentecostalism becomes an official religion in Uganda through the ‘’efforts’’ of ecumenist Pastor Joseph Sserwadda’s Born Again Faith Federation
NOW THE EMERGING CHURCH CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST: PASTOR JOSEPH SERWADDA’S BORN AGAIN FAITH FEDERATION JOINS ECUMENISTIC INTER-RELIGIOUS COUNCIL
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2009/12/now-emerging-church-chickens-come-home.html
The Harlot Ugandan Church and spiritual fornication : When American- Ugandan prosperity pastors dress in religion garb like catholic and Anglican clergy : Pastors who dress like this are controlled by the spirit of hypocrisy; they slowly drift away from preaching the true gospel and eventually lead to Rome.
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.ug/2014/02/the-harlot-ugandan-church-and-spiritual.html
Uganda: Policy to Regulate Religious Activities Divides Clerics
The Monitor, 8th May, 2017
By Lilian Namagembe
Kampala — A section of Christian
believers have challenged the government proposal to formulate a national
faith- based organisation policy to provide standard guidelines on starting
churches, labeling it as a move to infringe on the freedom of worship.
Led by a journalist-turned pastor,
Mr Joseph Kabuleta also head of the "The Watchman Ministry" a
Pentecostal fellowship, a group of 1,000- claiming to be spiritual believers
mostly Pentecostals, have signed a petition and submitted to the Directorate of
Ethics and Integrity in the Office of the President.
"Rather than taking the destructive historical
path of state control and restraint reminiscent of banning evangelical and
Pentecostal faith entities in the 1970s, we implore the government, through
this petition to adhere to the post -1995 Constitutional governance
dispensation that embraces diversity and religious freedom within the confines
of acceptable religion.." said Mr Kabuleta, one of the principal
petitioners at a press conference held in Kampala recently.
The petitioners also carried a
copy of the draft policy they claim the directorate was planning to pass secretly
without consulting all the stakeholders.
The proposed policy, if put in
place will among others, create and empower the department for Religious
Affairs to vet and recommend the registration of religious organisations.
Also, the policy would
establish a data management system, regulation as well as establish
collaboration between government and faith-based organisations to implement
government programmes.
This, Mr Kabuleta claimed will
not only infringe the Constitutional right to religious freedom but also
depicts control of the state over exercise of the right to practice religion.
"This thing of politics coming on the pulpits is
not right, let them stay where they are," Mr Kabuleta said.
However, the petition comes a
month after the proposed policy was supported by clerics from the Muslim
Supreme Council and the Orthodox Church from the Rwenzori sub region during a
consultative meeting in Fort Portal Town on, saying it was long overdue.
Sheikh Nasid Musenene, the
general secretary Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, Kasese District said;
"The policy will address issues affecting the different faiths such as
mushrooming churches, fraudsters, corrupt and other criminal activities."
When contacted, Rev Canon
Aaron Mwesigye who heads the directorate disowned the draft policy, saying that
they are still consulting the different stakeholders after which, they will
draft the policy.
"There is nothing like a
draft so far, and even if we come up with one, it is not going to be a
legislation but rather guidelines to be followed before one establishes a
church," Canon Mwesigye said.
Regarding the allegations that the proposed policy
intends to infringe on the freedom of worship, Canon Mwesigye cited the 2000
mass killings at a Kanungu church in western Uganda that left an estimated
1,000 people dead, adding that it is the government's responsibility to protect
people.
"Those challenging the
policy are fake churches. The policy is not exclusive. There is nothing at all;
those who are petitioning are just wasting time," he said.
The killings, in 2000, were
blamed on the religious cult, the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten
Commandments of God headed by renegade Catholic clerics Joseph Kibwetere,
Joseph Kasapurari and Credonia Mwerinde.
Recently, different
Pentecostal preachers have been accused of exploiting their followers by
selling to them different products such as holy water and rice, handkerchiefs,
while other preachers tell their congregations to offer money to God and plant
hefty monetary "seeds" in their churches to enable Him listen to
their prayers.
Uganda: Govt Moves to Regulate Operations of Religious Organs
By Jalira Namyalo
The Monitor, 10th April,
2017
Kampala — Through the Directorate of
Ethics and Integrity, the Office of the President, has embarked on the
development of a national policy on religious and faith-based organisations to
foster a more healthy relationship with government and other stakeholders.
The State minister for Ethics and
Integrity, Fr Simon Lokodo, said the policy is not intended to stifle but to
address the significant disharmony within various religious and faith-based
organisations (RFBOs).
"There are cases where some
religious organisations have contradictory beliefs or teachings. Some
organisations sabotage government programmes by discouraging their followers
from seeking medical treatment, taking children to school and immunisation,
participating in national identification card registration and census," Fr
Lokodo said.
Speaking at a consultative meeting with religious
leaders in Kampala, Fr Lokodo dismissed suspicion by both traditional religious
organisations and pentecostal bodies that the policy is a tool to trim their
powers citing misunderstandings.
The former provincial
secretary of the Church of Uganda, Rev Aaron Mwesigye, said the policy seeks to
provide a legal framework to combat corruption and immorality for the
development of the country.
"The new policy seeks to
establish neutral committees at all levels comprising both government and
religious representatives to act as a watchdog between stakeholders," said
Rev Mwesigye who is also the director of religious affairs at the Directorate
of ethics and Integrity.
The Mufti of Uganda, Sheikh
Shaban Mubajje, welcomed the policy, saying: "People have committed
several crimes while disguising themselves as religious bodies. We all believe
in the Ten Commandments and many people disguising as preachers have come out
to divert our youth by wrongly preaching the gospel."
