Africa-Press – Uganda. The secretary general of Born Again Faith in Uganda has refuted the directives issued by the Lyantonde Resident District Commissioner (RDC) to all Born Again Churches in the district saying they are discriminatory and against the constitution.
In the letter to the RDC, the Secretary General, Bishop Andrew Lugoloobi noted that the Born Again faith churches in Uganda are distinct faith recognised under the constitution and also a member of the Inter-religious council of Uganda (IRCU), therefore, deserving equal privileges like other member bodies.
Last week, Mr Godfrey Mbetegyerize, the Lyantonde RDC directed that all Born Again churches in Lyantonde should; close their services at 9pm on any given day and also obtain a recommendation from the National Fellowship of Born Again Churches. All overnight services in these churches were banned.
“Reference is made to an article titled ‘Lyantonde authorities issues new guidelines to Born Again Churches’ in the Monitor Newspaper,” the letter read in parts.
“No one knows whether your directive was exclusive to the National Fellowship of Born Again Pentecostal or whether you intended to include their colleagues of the Evangelical Fellowship of Uganda churches,” it added.
Bishop Lugoloobi further revealed that the RDC was not clear when he addressed the letter to the Born Again instead of the Alliance of Pentecostals and Evangelicals in Uganda (APE), as they are being known.
“By addressing your letter to the Born Again Churches, you inadvertently meant us. We now realise that you do not have a distinction between the National Born Again Pentecostal Churches (NFBAPC), Alliance and the Born Again Faith,” Bishop Lugoloobi noted.
He therefore demanded that the RDC should revoke the guidelines before they petition court and other relevant authorities on the matter.
“To us his directive is selective enforcement and is clearly discriminstive, it should have included other entities or religions. Unless the directive is revoked, rescinded and abandoned, we shall escalate the matter to your superiors,” he said.
Adding; “For all churches to obtain a recommendation from the NFBAPC is another misguided directive and only serves to demonstrate that you have no idea about how Uganda’s religious terrain is set.”
The law
Article 29 of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda provides for freedom of speech and expression, which also includes freedom to practise any religion and manifest such practice.
Article 21, also provides for protection and promotion of fundamental human rights, and also guarantees any person against discrimination on ground of sex, race, colour, ethnic origin and religion, among others
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