Church leaders protest religious bill

As the dust on the media bill settles, the religious denominations bill seems set to raise its own. Religious leaders from different denominations have converged and made a statement to be presented to the Local Government Ministry and the speaker of parliament for possible amendments to the bill. The statement which The Sunday Times has seen has suggested that four articles; 21, 32, 36 be amended in order to facilitate their operation in the country. It also says that the above articles make it difficult to start a religious organisation and their proper functioning. “The bill articulates that for someone to start a church, one must have at least 100 associates to sign in your statute while he/she must be a graduate,” the statement reads in part. Religious leaders protest that starting a church does not require someone to be academically upright but a calling of which most cases follows people with integrity. “We have found out that because those articles, freedom of worship is dishonoured,” the religious leaders state. Bishop Emmanuel Koline of the Anglican Church yesterday told the Sunday Times that the bill is putting churches in the category of NGOs and associations yet they differ from the two. “You can not handle churches the same way you handle associations and NGOs. We are different,” the Bishop said on his cell phone. “Actually, I think if this law is passed, it is likely to cause tension.” Pastor Eustache Karangwa of the Nkurunziza church raised the same concern saying that religious organisations do not rule out the need for literacy, but the bill does not indicate whether a degree should be in theology or not. He also said that some views from the political affairs committee suggest that the law comes to regulate the multiplication of churches because they were becoming many. “Having many churches is not a problem, but their objectives should be everybody’s concern,” Karangwa said yesterday. “Academic level is not a priority if someone has a calling to serve God.” Sengoga adds that Christianity was started by one person, Jesus Christ, and he was not academically educated , the same case with Islam. He complained that the views religious leaders gave to the political affairs committee were not taken into account. Ends