Introduction

About eight years ago, a strange evil began to rear its head from the pits of hell, presenting itself as the draft National and Faith Religious Organizations Policy. The perpetrators of this evil, hiding in government, did and still attempt to present it as the long missing piece of the puzzle in creating a safe and blissful space of enjoying freedom of worship in Uganda. This policy is in fact intended to tighten oversight of clergy and congregations by the government and bring religion under direct political control of the reigning president. As the International Centre for Religious Advocacy and Development (ICRAD), we acknowledge that religious freedoms are sacrosanct and any attempt to undermine them is a direct jab at one’s essential wellbeing and life. If this policy passes, all religious denominations will have to bow to the president’s religious demands. The situation will likely be exacerbated in the event that there arises a president who does not believe in God. Besides, this policy will provide an enabling environment for possible witch-hunt and censorship of clergy and churches that do not align with select political inclinations.

More importantly, Uganda is not without authentic spiritual guidance on this pertinent issue. Several years ago, on 26th February 2013, long before the RFOs policy was introduced to the public eye, the founder of Zoe Ministries Prophet Elvis Mbonye succinctly picked up on and prophesied of an upcoming legislation that was being crafted with the intent of countering and attacking the work of the church.

Watch out for this Anti-Christ Legislation - Prophecy!

He added that the perpetrators of this policy would then table it before secular leaders for discussion and adoption. He warned that this piece of legislation would infringe upon the church, the supernatural move of God and the freedom of worship as a whole.

Prophet Elvis Mbonye further re-echoed a prophetic warning pertaining the same in 2017 giving emphasis to modern day ‘pharisees’ that were masquerading behind political offices to have this policy passed.

He has since urged the church to wise up and fight against any encroachers to their faith. It is worth noting that Kenya’s recent flood situation was as a result of the nation’s leaders ignoring a prophetic warning issued by this same Prophet in October 2023, warning them against any further attempts to pass a similar legislation—the Religious Regulations Bill, 2023. He added dire consequences of the unnatural weather occurrences would occur if there were no efforts to reverse and abandon the passing of this legislation. Shortly after the devastating Kenya floods, Prophet Elvis further warned the nation of Kenya that unless they back tracked on the religious regulation attempt, they would experience more unnatural misfortune that can only be likened to the plagues of Egypt in Moses’ day. Following that warning, the world shortly witnessed unprecedented uprisings in Nairobi in which sacrosanct state instructions were invaded and almost burnt down by the citizenry.

It would be foolish of us as a nation not to pick a leaf from the unfortunate events happening in Kenya as a result of formulation of laws intended to directly stifle faith. The reason Uganda and the world at large should pay attention to this Prophet’s warnings is because he has an undisputed and unparalleled record of national and international fulfilled future prophecies to his name.

WHAT ARE THE CONTENTS OF THE DRAFT NATIONAL RELIGIOUS & FAITH ORGANISATIONS POLICY?

The RFO draft Policy contains among other things; the supposed rationale, objectives and goal of the policy, the background of the policy, the current institutional framework governing RFOs, the policy stakeholders and policy implementation strategies. The Policy places the Office of the President and Directorate for Ethics and Integrity as the overseers of all the RFOs in Uganda, which leaves all RFOs under the control and mercy of the state.

The Policy requires formal training for leaders and preachers under clause 4.0 (iv). It also requires religious leaders to obtain permits before they can qualify as leaders, and to seek permission before they can set up premises.

The policy seeks to put in place a specialized framework that regulates RFOs under Clause 8.2 (3).

The Policy seeks to determine who can and cannot be registered as an RFO through the registration and quality assurance policy under clause 8.2.

The Policy intends to have all RFOs registered under Umbrella Organisations or networks for easy censorship as per Clause 8.2 (3).

The Policy also seeks to grant Government the mandate to revise Laws and review all policy governing RFOs under clause 2.4(f).

The Policy under the guise of promoting accountability and transparency among RFOS seeks to have RFOs giving account of all their dealings to the State hence control as per issue 4 of the Guiding principles.

Clause 3.0 of the Policy points out a few selective local and international Laws which govern the RFO policy and these include the constitution of the Republic of Uganda, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the NGO Act among others.

The Policy also bears the strategies that the government intends to use to finance the RFO policy which will require other government departments to budget for the RFO from their personal budgets as stipulated under Clause 11 of the Policy.

Whereas the policy acknowledges that there are Laws and institutions in place for the registration and regulation of RFOs like the Uganda Registration services Bureau, the NGO Bureau, the District local governments, the Directorate of Ethics and integrity among others, it also states that the policy fronts issues that the current laws do not address issues like “registration of all RFOs in Uganda” yet the said bodies actually do register the RFOs as shown under clause 3.9 of the policy.

OUR CONCERNS AGAINST THE RFOs POLICY

The RFOs draft policy looks well intentioned, however, it is subtle and seeks to not only effect state control on religious sects but is also discriminatory in nature and seeks to directly violate on the citizens’ right to freedom or religion. The constitution of Uganda and other international laws grant every person the freedom to practice any religion and a right to belong to and participate in the practices of any religious body. The RFO policy however seeks to Control and regulate such freedoms in the following ways;

The policy gives a misguided and biased reference to and interpretation of selective use of laws. It also seeks to discharge a plethora of jurisprudence that should and would govern the enactment or otherwise of such a policy especially those that refer to the fundamentality of Human Rights e.g. the UN General Comment 22 on the Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the EA Treaty, African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Siracusa Principles and Universal Declaration on Human Rights among others.

The state has in fact recently taken measures to try and manufacture a crisis of registration so as to use the same to justify regulation through the NGO Policy. The NGO Policy, without justification, provides for the removal of RFOs from the ambit of NGOs, which intentional removal is being used as justification for a separate framework for RFOs.

The problem statement cites very few and unsubstantiated isolated cases of alleged mal practices within religious Organisations to form a basis for the proposition of a whole separate framework to govern Religious Institutions. These isolated cases lack justified scientific or statistical proof/evidence.

Furthermore, in making their case to justify the need for a policy in place to regulate RFOs, they make reference to vagabond rebel groups like Allied democratic forces (ADF), Al-Shabab, Kibwetere movement, Lakwena movement, and Lord’s Resistance Army. It is very clear that to them, RFOs to which 99% of Ugandans subscribe are nothing more than potential anti-government rebel groups that must be nipped in the bud.

In existence are sufficient penal and other laws to curb the excesses in religious institutions that the Government seeks to separately regulate e.g. the Penal Code Act, Anti Money Laundering Act, Anticorruption Act, Marriage Act etc. Since government does not dictate how religious leaders are appointed, individuals can be held personally responsible for offences committed within worship premises under the constitution without government referring to their religion as the problem. This therefore means that the implementation of the current laws would solve the issues intended by the supporters of the proposed policy.

In any case, the Justice, Law & Order sector of our country is not grappling with voluminous cases nor prosecutions of religious mischief. In the absence of solid admissible evidence, what exactly then is the true inspiration of this Policy?

The policy creates a dangerous situation of political influence over Religious Institutions. The regulation envisaged by the state involves the controlling of the activities or processes of Religious Organisations by means of rules. The policy places all RFOS under the direct control of the Office of the President and the Directorate for Ethics and Integrity who are all political appointees who may not necessarily be well equipped to handle spiritual matters but rather exert their efforts towards advancing the agenda of the State.

The proposed harmonization or merging of RFOs under one regulatory framework is in effect a violation of one’s constitutional rights. It is an unconstitutional attempt to establish state religion and an evil facilitator of the one world order and one world religion.

The policy grants the State and the RFO board power to determine who may or may not qualify to be registered as an RFO in so far as the Board being empowered to conveniently enforce the proposed regulations against RFOs, let alone the discretion afforded to it to occasionally be ‘re-constituted’ and ‘strengthened’ at will thus leaving all RFOs at the mercy of the State and in total disregard of the adequate existing laws for the registration and regulation of RFOs.There are several government organizations whose boards are appointed by the president and honestly this speaks to power, rank and relevance. Shall this RFO board be appointed by a mere presidential appointee; the minister of ethics and integrity? One wonders, shall an archbishop after so many years of difficult training be made subject to a simple minister?

It appears that the actual purpose of the policy is to enforce monitoring and control of RFOs and to force them to account, report and be answerable to the secular state through the Office of the President, the Minister of Ethics and Integrity and the National RFO Board.

The policy in a bid to push religious Faith Organisations into some structurally existent framework through the RFO board attempts to have politicians at the helm of controlling religious affairs both at a national and district level. The Board is intended to vet spiritual leaders and have opportunity to regulate and determine doctrine, spiritual mandate, and acceptable mode of worship, beliefs and other activities. This is a gross violation of the Constitutional freedoms of Worship, Thought and Conscience.

It is also worth noting that it has been heard of these same perpetuators that this draft policy is intended to target mushrooming Born Again churches yet it its framing has a national connotation and therefore in the long run it will bite across all denominations. It is also clear that in pursuing this evil plan, these fellows view the mainstream religious establishment as collateral damage.

The policy intends to determine how worshipers should “give” and how far they can go in their giving thereby infringing on their freedom of worship. The policy points out manipulation and exploitation of the flock by their leaders which will require all RFOs to be accountable to the state in the supposed bid to create transparency among RFOs. This leaves us with the questions – what amounts to manipulation and exploitation and what parameters shall be used to determine the same?

CURRENT EFFORTS BY ICRAD

Through Civic Engagement, ICRAD has held countrywide town hall meetings, dialogues and sensitization campaigns to amplify the danger of this policy starting with religious and faith leaders. ICRAD is continuously offering thought leadership in this subject through holding bi-monthly webinars that attract large audiences in order to widen the scope of engagement, understanding and mass interaction with the public. ICRAD is engaging with the mainstream media through talk shows focused on this issue and has recently held a press conference that garnered wise countrywide coverage ahead of the recent 3rd June,2024 Martyrs Day celebrations.

ICRAD has recently extended its cross-border engagements through strategic coalition efforts in order to have a broader international perspective and platform of engagement on the same. ICRAD is also focused on creating national alliances with likeminded individuals, institutions and personalities who are willing to engage, speak up and meaningfully contribute or participate on this cause.

CONCLUSION

ICRAD looks forward to building more strategic alliances, partnerships, opportunities and platforms of meaningful engagement at national, regional and international level in order to expunge and end any efforts towards infringement of the freedom of worship in Uganda.

Simon Ssenyonga

Director, ICRAD