Last week, Rwandan President Paul Kagame made remarks about churches that presidents rarely say in black and white. He surprised many because politics and religion are not given to direct, undiplomatic language.
The president criticised the rapid growth of churches in the country, warning that some exploit vulnerable citizens instead of promoting genuine faith and development.
Mr Kagame qualified what he said about Rwandan churches using the word “some”—but in calling out the churches, he was arguably speaking for so many people, even outside Rwanda.
In Uganda, churches have capitalised on people’s misery to make money for pastors who infringe on people’s rights in the name of worship.
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While Uganda’s constitution allows freedom of worship, evangelical preachers are using this freedom to inconvenience others, thereby depriving them of the freedom to live in a noise-free environment.
Consider this: a pastor uses a megaphone early in the morning to pray when people are just starting to get out of bed. His excuse is that he is praying for them.
But there is really nothing to suggest that the people the pastor is praying for actually need his prayers. Even if we assume that they do, there is no legal excuse for the pastor to make so much noise that babies and people who are in poor health and need to sleep, for example, should put up with the noise.
There is no holy book that says that when a pastor is praying in the morning he has to make noise for half an hour.
There is no verse, no chapter, that says if a pastor prays in silence, God cannot and does not listen to prayers said in silence.
At major events, including those attended by presidents or prime ministers and other top leaders, people generally pray in silence. If they do not, the noise is kept at a bare minimum and tolerable. Attendees do not complain.
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It is, therefore, unacceptable that a pastor of a small church can make so much noise utterly oblivious of the inconvenience he is causing, yet well-established places of worship—think Lubaga, Namirembe and Kibuli, which have been around for decades—make no noise.
Pastors who choose to pray using loud megaphones when people are praying silently in their homes are the type Mr Kagame was complaining about. They exploit vulnerable citizens instead of promoting genuine faith and development.
The megaphones are simply marketing tools.
🔴 Sunday Thought cuts through the noise of prayer, piety and superstition to ask the questions most people avoid. It discusses God, faith and religion—not to preach, but to probe, challenge and sometimes unsettle. Whether you believe, doubt or have stopped looking altogether, Sunday Thought will make you think, question and maybe even rethink everything you thought you knew about the divine—and about life itself.