State agents should also investigate Pentecostal lies

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kampala, Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, recently complained that President Museveni’s NRM government did not only have agents spying on the church leadership, but that these informers fed the President on lies.
We may never know whether the lies were stories like that the archbishop had started growing a pair of blue horns, but the principle of having such spies at all has been widely discussed.
Supporters of the regime say that, with thousands flocking to the churches, and considering the influence church leaders have over these people, any responsible government would follow the goings-on among the clergy.

In the past, including the time when Gen Museveni was in the bush fighting for power, there have been senior religious figures getting involved with rebellion. And now, President Museveni has reason to suspect that the more sober religious leaders no longer approve of his rule. So, being jittery about the security of his chair is natural. In short, put spies everywhere, so that any threat to his rule can be detected.
All right, but at what point would we realise that we have slipped into the extreme of a police state?
Opponents of the regime generally argue that we are already in a police state, since even the sanctity of religious institutions has finally been violated by Big Brother.

Now, if by some consensus you picked the top five hundred of Uganda’s religious leaders, you would have a gathering of a few good men, many average men, and a number of outright crooks. Yes, men. God’s institutions are still heavily weighted against women. So you cannot sell me the (institutional) sanctity clause as a shield for the potential wrongdoing of some of the men masquerading as holy souls, even as much as I abhor a police state.
However, I have noticed that both supporters and opponents are looking at the problem in the context of direct political involvement and possible subversive activity.

Is there a rule that government informers only pry into political-cum-rebel activities?
Listening to various radio stations, the readiest support of the government in this shadowy business that has come from religious circles has been from the Pentecostals.
On the Impact FM Sunday morning talk show last week, one ‘apostle’ and one ‘bishop’ actually went further. To ingratiate themselves with the powers that be, they concurred that the serial weakening and despair of President Museveni’s political rivals over the years must be a design by God.

Won’t someone declare Machiavelli a saint?
As for spying, why doesn’t the State investigate the blatant lies peddled by some of our churches?
When you tune into Pastor Senyonga’s Top radio and TV broadcasts, you generally find him castigating false and satanic prophets, with their fake holy rice and fake holy water; almost certainly a reference to the controversial ‘prophet’, Samuel Kakande, whose (rival) church is only a short walk from Senyonga’s.

But then Senyonga immediately proceeds like a voodoo priest, calling in photocopies of land titles of those dreaming of building castles, and copies of identity cards of job seekers, so that he may ritually use them to access the power of Jesus; not to mention his holy oil, whose smear is exactly as fraudulent as Kakande’s water.
You have to be very shallow to believe Kakande or Senyonga’s crap, and a ‘responsible’ government would have long ago investigated the lies. Instead, it is common to hear government politicians recommending Senyonga’s ‘P5’ prayer sessions, which are returning Uganda to the darkness of medieval times.