Rwandan President Paul Kagame at the national leadership retreat in
Gabiro on March 1, 2018. He wondered why there were churches than
boreholes in the country. PHOTO | PRESIDENCY
“Seven hundred churches in Kigali? Are these boreholes that give
people water?” asked President Paul Kagame when he heard that more than
700 churches had been closed down by authorities.
“I
don’t think we have as many boreholes. Do we even have as many
factories? But 700 churches, which you even had to close? This has been a
mess!”
The closure this week by the Rwanda Governance
Board (RGB) was meant to tighten rules on registration and functioning
of churches in the country in the face of rising cases of fraud and
security concerns.
Religious and rights groups said the
closure amounts to infringement on the right to worship, but the
government says the crackdown is timely, in the face of thousands of
mushrooming churches in the largely Christian country.
President
Kagame, while officiating at the closure of a four-day national
leadership retreat on Thursday, commented on the ongoing operation
saying that he was surprised by the large number of churches. He pointed
out that had there been proper planning, the situation would not have
got to a level where the government has to close churches.
He
said that Rwanda has not reached a level where it needs all these
churches, noting that such a big number of churches is suitable in
bigger and developed economies that have the means and systems to
sustain them –which is one of the two scenarios such a development can
be explained.
“The second scenario is that you will find such a mess [of
churches] in societies which have nothing like ours for different
reasons. In Rwanda and Africa, there are those who want to see us in
such chaos. When authorities intervene and stop them, they lament that
it is a human rights abuse. People should have a right to worship in
whatever church, they say,” said Mr Kagame.
He however said that Rwandans do not have the luxury and means to sustain such churches, supporting the move to shut them down.
Loopholes
The
heads of Pentecostal churches which are the most affected have lamented
the decision to close churches, which they said was hastily
implemented.
“We needed more time to put things in
order and later an inspection would determine which churches to close,”
said Bishop Liliane Mukabadege of Mountain of Hope, pointing out that
some of the closed churches can meet the standards given a grace period.
Observers
say that crackdown could set back planned investments which faith-based
organisations were making including in the media, schools and
hospitals.
It is suspected that a recent case involving
Amazing Grace FM, a Christian-run radio station accused of airing a
hateful sermon against women, put churches in the spotlight. In the
sermon aired on January 29, a pastor Nicolas Niyibikora vented against
women calling them “evil” and “against God’s plan”.
The radio has since been temporarily closed and fined Rwf2 million ($2,320) for undermining state security and Rwandan culture.
RGB,
which registers faith-based and civil society organisations, says there
are loopholes in the current law which were deemed not strict enough to
address the issues that emerged after its enactment in 2013.
Anastase
Shyaka, RGB chief executive officer, said the law allowed churches to
start and register later while preachers underwent no licensing process
as there are no specific requirements regarding who should practice,
standards for places of worship and management, among other things.
“The
same way other professions require some training or qualifications-it
should also apply to preachers to avoid people who call themselves
bishops, pastors or apostles when they have not acquired it through
training,” said Mr Shyaka.
RGB officials say this was
partly to blame for the several malpractices and internal wrangles that
characterised churches and faith-based organisations in the country.
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