14 arrested for rejecting National IDs

HUYE — The Police in Huye District are holding 14 people from Kinaki Sector over their refusal to acquire new National Identity Cards. They argue that the new identity cards contravene their religious beliefs. The 14, who are members of a break-away faction of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, say that the Bible is against the recently introduced electronic ID card. Apart from the identity cards, members of the group does not also subscribe to the universal health insurance scheme, authorities revealed. According to Joseph Kagabo, the Sector Executive Secretary, the group was arrested after the realisation that about 1,400 residents were not registered and did not turn up for the photography phase of acquiring new identity cards. “After realising this, we carried out an investigation and discovered that a group of people was going around telling residents not to take the identity cards with the allegation that the Bible preaches against acquiring the document,” Kagabo said. “We tried to convince these people but in vain, they stuck to their beliefs, we had no option but to hand them over to Police for prosecution because they were sabotaging government programmes,” he added. At Ngoma Police Station, the group comprising of the young and old alike, were adamant about their decision to reject acquiring national IDs. One member of the group said that the new identity cards have inscriptions which point to the world coming to end as professed in the bible. “The new identity card is also leading to the issuance of a universal currency which is written in the book of Revelation, where it is said that this kind of currency will be a tool of the Antichrist,” said Jacques Karugamba, the leader of the group. The group however, argue that they will keep the old identity cards as it does not have any collision to their religious beliefs. Joseph Nsabimana, a member of The Seventh day Adventist Church in the Sector, however, disowned the group. He said that the group members were expelled from the Church after they introduced what he termed as ‘conflicting teachings’. “We are a legally recognised Church in Rwanda and there is no way we can go ahead to oppose government programmes,” said Nsabimana, a member of Nyarugunga Adventists Church in Kinazi sector. Ends