Pastors, govt clash over proposed religious policy

A section of born-again church leaders have asked government to postpone the ongoing validation of the Religious Faith Organisations (RFO) Policy until after the 2026 General Election.

But the government says a clear, and comprehensive national policy framework is essential now to help govern the registration and regulation of RFOs in the country.

Nonetheless, the Pentecostal Church leaders led by Pastor Robert Kayanja are demanding more time to read and digest the proposed policy before they can make submissions. They also questioned whether the policy targeted a specific group of people.

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The religious leaders met a team of officials from the Directorate for Ethics and Integrity led by the Permanent Secretary, Mr Alex Okello, at Miracle Centre Cathedral in Kampala on Wednesday.

The draft Religious Faith Organisations (RFOs) Policy, 2023, is being steered by the Directorate for Ethics and Integrity, Office of the President.

During a heated meeting, Pr Kayanja, the founder and senior pastor of Miracle Centre Cathedral, warned that the introduction of the policy could be a disguised plan by the government to ban Pentecostal Churches in Uganda. 

“Every policy that we have looked at whether in the Middle Ages in Western Europe; Christendom suffered because of regulations. They started regulating what the Church can do and they lost the revival, now we know where Europe is today,” he said.

“The banning of churches by former President Idi Amin started as a policy. So, policy, like it or not, can be used as a law,” he added.

In 1977, former President Amin banned 26 Christian organisations and the Bahai faith from operating in Uganda. The faiths affected included the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and the Uganda Baptist Mission. 

President Amin, who was Muslim, then granted freedom of worship to only Islam, the Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox churches. 

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At the Wednesday meeting, Archbishop Moses Odongo, the General Overseer National Fellowship of Born-again Pentecostal Churches of Uganda, wondered if the draft policy considered all umbrellas of Born-again churches. 
“These born-again churches have different organisations within themselves. We have umbrellas, - we have the Miracle Centres where we are - we have the National Fellowship of Born-again, and we have born–again Faith. All these are different groupings within the born-again churches,” he said.

Archbishop Odongo asked: “Now, my concern is that you don’t continue to mention these in this document to bring that clarity. It then leads me to a question; is this document for all of us?” 

Mr Richard Magongo, the public relations officer of the National Fellowship of Born-again Pentecostal Churches, said: “Our concern is, there is nowhere in the world that a religious policy has been implemented and the church has remained the same,’ he said. 

“South Africa did this but shelved it. Even in the Scandinavian countries where they passed the policy, every pastor who preaches first takes their sermon to an office in government to check it and this is exactly what the proposed policy within the policy is going to do,” he added. 

Inside the draft policy
But the Directorate says the need for the policy was forced by manipulation of congregations by certain leaders within RFOs. It also cites the notable absence of a comprehensive guidance for the government’s engagement with and support of RFOs. 

The draft policy lists some of the current shortfalls among RFOs as manipulation, exploitation of followers, loss of property and lives, disunity among the faithful, increased rates of domestic violence, family breakdowns, societal instability, promotion of immorality, and noise pollution. 

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The draft document also catalogues the main causes of the problem as moral decay among RFO leaders and the faithful, lack of accountability standards or systems in RFO operations, lack of formal training for leaders or preachers and negative foreign influence among RFOs. 

The draft policy also states that there shall be an independent Board appointed from RFOs by the Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity as part of the coordination framework and mechanism in RFO policy implementation of its roles, responsibilities and financing. 

The policy also states that the Board shall exercise the mandate for registration, regulation, monitoring, and overseeing the activities of RFOs. The Board will also facilitate coordination, effective and efficient relations among stakeholders. 

But some leaders who attended the meeting said the Board will not manage the affairs of Born-again Churches because of their affiliation to different umbrellas. 

Pr Robert Rwomushana, the Overseer of Pentecostal Churches in Bunyoro Sub-region, said: “It’s not us who are choosing the board, but the government. Now, that board cannot manage the Born-again since we are different umbrellas. For example, if the chairman is a Muslim he cannot govern the born-again. The Muslims pray differently, the born-again pray and believe differently, too,” he said. 

Government response
Mr Okello in a telephone interview with Monitor, said the Pentecostal Church leaders don’t any have clear reasons as to why the policy should not be in place. 

“It is not for them to decide whether the government should have the policy or not. It is the duty of the government to plan how to sort out a problem. What the government asks from them is their views on this policy; what do they want included and what should be removed, but they have said nothing,” he said. 

“I went to hear their views, but they just do not want the policy for no reason. What has the policy got to do with the [2026] elections? The other time they said we are going for elections, so let this policy wait. Now it is the same again; ‘let’s wait for the elections’. What has the policy got to do with the elections?” Mr Okello asked. 

“We asked them what they don’t like in this policy, nobody said anything. They only say ‘we don’t want these words, replace them’, so after replacing them, so what?” he asked. 

The policy has undergone validation in West Nile, Acholi, Lango, sub-regions, and Eastern, Western, and Southwestern Uganda, with a national validation expected in May.  

In all those regions, church leaders have unanimously supported the policy to enhance collaboration between RFOs and the government to promote full participation in enhancing social service delivery and economic development.