Lwanga bid on compulsory church tithe sparks contest

Dr Fred Muhumuza, a senior economist, has warned government not to slip into the debate of collecting tithe at source as proposed by Kampala Archbishop Cyprian Lwanga.
“It is an open theological debate for some people, very complicated, a debate that has opened up, government should not walk into; let the Church first exhaust it,” he said.

Archbishop Lwanga on Sunday proposed tithe debit should be effected at the source citing countries such as Italy and Germany which he said carry out direct tithe collections before sending the same to church.
He said there is no compliance to tithe remittances by the faithful and Church projects have been affected.

“In Germany where I have just been, government collects 1% tithe, employers and employees agree and money is debited, it works. Will you support me, please support me, it’s a good idea,” Archbishop Lwanga said.
He said currently the church plans to start manufacturing its own mineral water brand called ‘Martyrs water’ and to build a gallery so that the faithful stop to sit in open space.

However, Dr Muhumuza said in the countries cited by the cleric, tithe collected is treated as charity and governments compute it against a taxpayer as their contribution to charity work.
“We can’t just harmonise things across the board. Governments in those advanced countries contribute to Church. They treat it as charity support in an already in-built system,” he said.
Officials at the Kampala Archdiocese secretariat declined to give a detailed discussion on the prelate’s proposals, instead referring this newspaper to the Archbishop himself.
“He is always available for comments. Contact him directly,” an official said.

Dr Muhumuza argued that it will be difficult for Uganda Revenue Authority to implement the proposal, saying because all must pay the tithe, not all in Uganda have their salaries taxed.
He said some people regard tithing differently.
“If I supported a widow at the neighbourhood with paying school fees for her children or those that she takes care of, that’s some way of paying tithe although it has not directly gone to Church,” he said.

Bible on tithe
In Matthew 22:21 Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”
Romans 13:1 says, “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God.”

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