Amazing Grace Faith Church team leader, Apostle Anthony Muhumuza. COURTESY PHOTO
Pastors, lay leaders and worshipers from various parts of the country are out to condemn the unlawful demolition of a long-standing Church building during the lockdown.
St. Peter’s Church of Uganda, Ndeeba was destroyed due to wrangles over ownership of the land on which it sits, and media reports show this was done during curfew hours.
In various statements, born-again Church leaders stood in solidarity with members of the Church saying “there should have been a better way” for the bussiness man behind the demolition to resolve the land wrangle.
“It is a sad moment for the Church of Christ,” Umar Mulinde, the senior Pastor of Gospel Life Church International, said.
Following this report, the pastor said Uganda’s state of affairs is taking an “ugly trend.”
“While Government maintains a biased prolonged lockdown of places of worship, and everybody is forced to keep home during the night due to stringent lockdown measures, heavily armed Police is sighted protecting criminals who are demolishing Church buildings during curfew hours,” he said.
Pastor Omongole David of Christos Rhema Church said: “Absurd what was done to this church structure! But the end of the story is always victory for the church of Jesus-that is the good news! The tears of the present time cannot be compared to the glory to come.”
According to Police, St. Peter’s Church of Uganda was demolished Monday morning, an act officials said was against government directives that made it illegal for one to carryout evictions during this COVID-19 period.
The officials found people demolishing the said church and arrested 11 suspects include Kawooya Mohammad, Bbosa Muniru, Kiberu Amza, Mutebi Abbasi, Bulega Ali, Matovu Simon ,Kalika Ali, Mujuzi Andrew, Ssekito Badru, Isirinya John and Maruti Bashir.
Police also arrested its own who include DPC Katwe, SP Epedu David, OC Station Ndeeba Police Station, ASP Mugira Yeko Kato and Field Force Unit (FFU) Commander KMP/South Region, ASP Isabirye Kaloli over neglect of duty.
“I know if this was a Pentecostal church a big section of society would be jubilating but this is abominable. This is an Anglican Church building that has been there for decades and to be destroyed like this for any reason is so wrong,” Amazing Grace Faith Church team leader, Apostle Anthony Muhumuza said.
“In the worst case scenario a fundraising should have been launched to preserve this heritage and the businessman should have been compensated fully. We would have gladly contributed to this cause. This is failure on the part of The Church responsible, The judicial system and the law enforcement to mediate in this sensitive matter that has ended in such a regrettable way. As for the businessman he might have a right over the land but this is a generational curse he has picked up. There should have been a better way. May God have mercy on Uganda,” he said. “This is unacceptable!”
According to KFM, the people who claim to be the owners of the land where the church is built took advantage of curfew and completely brought the structure that was built over 40 years ago on the ground.
The media source reports its alleged that attempts to have the structure down in March this year were resisted by the church members.
The area councillor Ms Farida Nakabugo told the Daily Monitor that there was a huge presence of security operatives on Sunday night before the church was demolished.
