Lyantonde authorities issue new guidelines to Born Again churches

Authorities in Lyantonde District have issued new guidelines to Pentecostal churches.

Under the guidelines, which took effect last week, Pentecostal Churches are barred from conducting prayers beyond 9pm.

“We are not out to infringe on freedom of worship, but freedoms come with responsibilities and we want preachers at those churches to respect other people’s right to sleep. This is the reason why our security committee has asked all Pentecostal churches to ensure that night prayers end at 9pm,” Mr Godfrey Mbetegyerize,the Lyantonde resident district commissioner,  said on Sunday. 

This comes on the heels of reports that some churches in the area hold prayers from dusk until dawn.

Mr Mbetegyerize said churches are also barred from acting as hospitals and advised sick followers to always first get medical attention and later seek spiritual healing.

Mr Jeremie Namanya, the Lyantonde deputy resident district commissioner, said all Pentecostal churches have been ordered to put registration books at entrances to record particulars of all those who enter their premises.

He said: “To start a church, one is also required to get a recommendation from the LC I chairman, sub-county leaders, and the chairman of National Fellowship of Born Again Churches.”

He said the new guidelines have already been communicated to 400 pastors from different churches in the district.

  Mr Douglas Kiwanuka, the Lyantonde District police commander, said his team is ready to enforce the guidelines.

 Pastor Godfrey Tumusiime, the chairperson of the National Fellowship of Born Again Churches in Lyantonde, said: “If the security committee has seen something that needs to be corrected, we are ready to comply for the good of our followers.”

But Mr James Muwonge, a senior pastor at Divine Kingdom Ministries in Lyantonde Town, disagreed with Pastor Tumusiime, saying: “It will be difficult to “chase away God’s visitors from the church at night”.

“If a person has decided to leave his home to come and pray from the church, how do you chase him away at night? What if he /she is mugged on the way home?”

 Mr Paul Ssekandi, the Lyantonde Town Council probation officer, said at least 4,273 gender-based violence cases have been recorded in the area since January and some are reported by women who attend prayers without the consent of their husbands.