Believers protest as 300,000 Christians barred from PAG churches in Lango

Protests have erupted amongst believers across the Lango Sub Region after the High Court in Kampala blocked more than 300,000 Christians from accessing mushrooming churches built in the name of Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) Uganda.

Already, hundreds of Christians on selected days, gather to worship and pray for “the Holy Spirit to save them from the shame occasioned by the court ruling.”

In a March 31, 2023 ruling which has since rubbed believers in a wrong way, Justice Musa Ssekaana ordered that dozens of places of worship under the Lira Pastorate are no go areas for believers subscribing to the deregistered PAG Lira Limited.

The ruling followed an 8-year long leadership and property dispute between PAG Uganda and PAG Lira Limited.

Thousands of Christians formed PAG Lira in 2013 after they broke away from PAG Uganda, following the termination of services of Bishop Joel Mukalu, a decision his followers believe was arrived at in bad faith.

The leadership of PAG Uganda then ran to court alleging that “on obtaining a name-change, PAG Lira moved ahead and seized PAG Uganda Limited’s assets.” Particularly churches in Lango sub region and surrounding areas.

Official data shows that PAG has a combined estimate of over 200 local churches in Lira, Dokolo, Oyam, Apac, Kole, Otuke, Alebtong, Kwania and Dokolo districts.

During its ruling, the High Court in Kampala gave a general declaratory order that all properties registered in the names of the plaintiff and illegally held by Joel Mukalu (1st defendant) should be returned to the plaintiff.

However, Christians have opposed the court’s decision, saying “it impacts negatively on believers who were not party to the case.”

“PAG Lira Limited is a non-existent entity that doesn’t own any property and Bishop Joel Mukalu whom they have dragged to court also doesn’t own anything which they are claiming,” Nelson Ojok, a born- again faithful said.

Col Francis Ongia, another believer said PAG Uganda does not own any property In Lira because it never contributed any money towards the construction of churches from the time he first arrived in Lira District in in 1989 as a government worker.

“I then joined a group of people who were praying in a classroom at VH Public School and mobilised resources that we used to build Lira Pentecostal Church,” he remarked.

“It is disappointing for somebody who never contributed anything towards the church construction to come and evict poor Christians who sold their chicken and goats to build the church,” he added.

Another female believer who has been fellowshipping at Lira Pentecostal Church for nearly 30 years, Semmy Alele, said she never witnessed any support coming from Kampala. 

By the time of filing this story, the next step of all parties involved in the matter was unclear.