By Aaron Sseruyigo
KAMPALA – A sect of Pastors in the country have vowed not to support the idea of a government-enforced tithing policy that automatically takes 10% from people’s paychecks for the Church.
Cyrus Geoffrey Rod, the lead Pastor at Dominion Temple International located in Kisaasi, within the city of Kampala on Tuesday said any priest or pastor who petitions the government to help Church collect tithes is “driven by greed” and does not don’t love the sheep.
Citing Ezekiel 34, Pastor Rod asserted such clergy are working purely for material reward.
“Dear politicians, if any priest, pastor, and the like petition you to help them collect tithes from the sheep the way you collect your taxes, single them out! Those are hirelings driven by greed. They don’t love the sheep. Revoke any credentials you gave them,” he posted on Facebook.
Prophet Elijah M Kyeyune of Kairos fellowship said government is not sanctioned by the bible to collect tithe.
“It’s a priestly role not a political role,” he added.
In his remarks that sparked controversy on Sunday, Kampala Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, who was ordained as a priest in 1978, justified the proposal by asking if people were tired of “putting money in the baskets all the time.”
He also said a failure by some members to tithe had impacted the Church and its ongoing projects.
“Whenever we ask for tithe, everyone gives only what they have at that time. But the Bible says a tenth of whatever you earn belongs to the church,” said Archbishop Lwanga.
“I was told Germans make agreements with their government to deduct monthly tithe from their salaries and forward it to the church and this money they use to build and renovate their churches,” he added.
On social media, Ugandans and others in the diaspora responded to this development with varying opinion, some saying, “any religious institution should have to earn your donations, not guilt-trip you into giving or take it directly from your pockets.”
“He’s not wrong that some governments give tax money directly to religious institutions based on their memberships. That’s what happens in countries where church/state separation isn’t a foundation of their values. Several movements have sprung up urging people to list their actual beliefs on the census — including saying they’re not religious if they don’t actually believe the dogma — instead of checking a religious label out of convenience or culture,” one blogger wrote.
For those who backed Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga including Frank Gashumba, an activist associated with Sisimuka Uganda, their defence has hinged on the confidence they have that their individual churches will rightly account for any penny received in tithes.
Dr Fred Muhumuza, a senior economist, told a local newspaper that it will be difficult for Uganda Revenue Authority to implement the proposal, saying because all must pay the tithe, not all in Uganda have their salaries taxed.
“It is an open theological debate for some people, very complicated, a debate that has opened up, government should not walk into; let the Church first exhaust it,” he said.
