Authorities in Northern Province have suspended worshipping activities in 775 churches in the five districts of the province, over failure to meet minimum standards.

The decision was announced on Tuesday evening during a meeting between provincial leaders and representatives of religious organisations operating in the region.

The province has 2,194 churches operating in the districts of Musanze, Gakenke, Rulindo and Burera, among which 775 fell short of hygiene, safety standards and had issues related to their legal status, according to officials.

"The places of worship which were found to lack minimum standards will be closed down, but if the owners meet the standards, we will give them a green light to resume their activities,” Jean-Marie Vianney Gatabazi, the Governor of Northern Province, told journalists.

The decision follows a survey carried out recently by districts authorities, which indicated that some churches operated in makeshift tents, commercial complexes and homes where they caused noise pollution that affected surrounding communities.

The move is part of a broader national crackdown on places of worship that fall short of minimum requirements, including on quality of the buildings and noise pollution.

The crackdown on sub-standard places of worship is being spearheaded countrywide by local governments in collaboration with the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), which oversees operations of faith-based organisations and civil society.

Besides closing down churches which failed to meet minimum standards, the Northern Province has imposed a ban on irregular places of worship like mountains where people pray and may expose their lives to danger.

Commenting to the matter, Governor Gatabazi said, "In the meeting, government officials along with church leaders agreed to ban worshiping in dangerous places such as caves,  in forests, bush, among other illegal places.”

"Places of worship must be clean and safe because God does neither dwell in holes nor in caves. The decision also concerns those who take patients suffering from serious diseases to prayer rooms instead of taking them to hospitals and some have ended up dying from there,” he added.

Participants in the meeting including church leaders supported the directive to suspend activities of churches which expose their congregations’ lives in danger.

"I don’t see any harm in this decision, I think it has been taken in the interest of the people,” said Pastor Jonas Matabaro of the Evangelical Restoration Church in Musanze District.

"The decision is a wakeup call for us; for instance the church that I represent does not have a water tank and when it rains, water destroys residents’ properties,” he adds

In the meeting, all the churches were asked to pave their compounds or mow their lawns plant trees and flowers as well as install lightning rods at all church facilities.

"We have advised church leaders that installing lightning rods is among the key priorities since Northern Province is on a high altitude, making it prone to lightning strikes,” he said.

Lightning rods, according to Gatabazi, cost varies from Rwf15,000 to Rwf100, 000.

Of the 775 suspended churches in the Northern Province, Gakenke District has 140, Gicumbi 211, Rulindo 91, Burera 168 while Musanze District has 165.