By Our Reporter
“I don’t work for the government, I don’t have a reason to. They cannot pay me, and have never done so.”
These were the remarks made by Dr Joseph Serwadda as he dismissed recent allegations that he is conspiring with state officials to implement controversial policies targeting Born-again Churches in Uganda.
Speaking during his weekly live broadcast on Dream TV on Sunday, the founder and vision bearer of Victory Christian Centre – Ndeeba explained that although he has consistently come out to address the current church-state affairs, “I’m not trying to promote state programs,” he said.
Dr Joseph Serwadda was in the company of Apostle Charles Tumwine who wondered why Ugandans think Serwadda connived with Fr Simon Lokodo, the minister of State for Ethics and Integrity in the Office of the President of Uganda, to formulate a new national policy which, according to media reports, seeks to “regulate” the Church of Christ.
Serwadda pointed out the need for critics to know the history of the Born-again church in Uganda, to avoid coming up with inexplicit accusations.
“By the time I became Born-again, the government I found in power had a problem with Pentecostals. People do not know the history of the Born-again Church,” he said.
Adding, “President Museveni’s government is very recent. There are those that existed before this government, who had issues with the Born-again. Notably, Amin’s government arrested people, including me. My first time in prison was because of evangelism.”
Dr Joseph Serwadda listed a number of Churches he said were banned during Idi Amin’s time.
These included Salvation army, Wandegeya, the Uganda Baptist Mission, Jinja, The Uganda Gospel Mission, Makerere, Deliverance church, The Uganda Association of Evangelicals, The Redeemed Church of Christ, The Full Gospel Church of Kenya which at that time operated in Kampala at that time, among others.
It was after Amin’s regime that Pentecostal churches gained visibility and State recognition, as new ones sprout out further more.
On February 24th, 2006, Born-again Church sought legalisation away from Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) status.
“There is no distinction between what is church and what is charity,” Dr Serwadda quoted President Museveni as saying at that time.
In 2010, an Act to repeal and replace the Non-Governmental Organisations Act Cap. 113 was formulated where faith based organisations (FBOs) obliged to register as NGOs, would no-longer fall under the arm of the NGO policy.
It was also agreed upon that if a faith based organisations engaged in NGO activities, it would be required to comply with the provisions governing NGO activities in Uganda until government announced measures to a separate frame work for promoting and co-ordinating activities of FBOs in the country.
In 2016, government endorsed the non government organisations act 2016 presented by the late Aronda Nyakairima,
With this development, faith-based organisations had no legitimate standing since they are no longer part of the NGO ACT 2016.
It is here that consultations started, according to Dr Serwadda, and faith-based organisation were labeled under the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity.
“If we cannot register as NGOS, what is the way forward? This is not just about us. Let the next generation find something stable and strong. We are not the ones who introduced these ideas, it is government. We, like you just receive news of the new development soon to be implemented,” Dr Joseph Serwadda said.
“This policy has been formulated over 6 years excluding us from the NGO status. It is proposed that all faith-based institutions, including existing churches, under go fresh registration
“Registration is irreversible. Let us organise, speak with one voice, agree on a given structure or frame work, and go as a team. We are all affected equally. At this state, we are on the same level
“We need some sort of conference to converge and share ideas. We need to hear from the state, and they, to hear from us. The national policy doesn’t target Pentecostals alone, it concerns all,” Dr Serwadda said.
