President Museveni pledges to end Church registration as NGOs

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has pledged to resolve the issue of registering new/modern churches as Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). 

“The issue of periodic registration of new churches as NGOs, we are going to resolve it. A church is a church, not an NGO,” he said. 

President Museveni made the remarks yesterday during the Universal Church Mega Youth Crusade organised by Prophet David Isanga, the spiritual head of Universal Apostles Fellowship Church of Righteousness in Kaliro. 

The Crusade ran under the theme: “Remember Your Creator In the Days of Your Youth Before the Days of Evil Come Ecclesiastes 12:1”.

The President’s pledge followed Prophet Isanga’s request to have the registration scrapped. 

“For long this Church has been registering as Non-Governmental Organization yet this is the only indigenous Church founded by typical Ugandans; its unique in its calling and I think even the rest of the world are looking forward to see it through that the Church of Righteousness propagates to their countries,” Prophet Isanga said. 

“We therefore request you, Your Excellency, that these taxes in the name of registering us as NGOs or Companies limited by guarantee every after five years are scrapped.”

On the other hand, President Museveni also reiterated his call to the people of Busoga to embrace the 4-acre Model type of farming. 

He said when they take his advice, they will be able to create wealth. 

“When I was coming here from where I landed, I was looking through the homesteads, I saw that you need to do something about homestead incomes with “ekibaro” in this area,” the President pointed out. 

“After analysis, we recommend seven activities for you if you are working in a small area. We said have 1 acre of coffee, because the “ekibaro” showed us that with 1 acre of coffee, you can have Shs15m or more a year, secondly have an acre of fruits such as mangoes, oranges or pineapples, acre 3 plant pasture for zero grazing cattle, number 4 grow food crops like cassava. In the backyard do poultry for eggs and piggery. Finally, do fish farming in ponds for those near the wetlands. Wetlands can be used in a good way but for you, you are using them in a bad way; you use them to destroy the environment, yet you get so little from that,” he added. 

President Museveni further noted that in order to modernise agriculture, the people of Busoga and Uganda at large should adopt irrigation, especially using water from the wetlands. 

“I now want the Basoga to do the kibaro, if we irrigate all the acreage on the dry land, how much shall we get in terms of more yield? We are not against you using the wetlands but we want you to use them in a better way so that we can do more and get more money.”

President Museveni also thanked the followers of Prophet Isanga for strictly practising the four dimensions of Jesus Christ. 

“In the 1960s, one of the problems we had with the religious teachings was talking about only one dimension of Jesus Christ. They would teach the gospel but from the Bible, I could see that God had four dimensions; first of all, he was preaching the gospel, secondly, he was healing the sick, thirdly, he fed the hungry, then finally, he himself worked in the carpentry of Joseph when he was a young person. Therefore, to say that you are a Christian but you don’t work, I could not agree with that,” he emphasized. 

“In my understanding I was emphasising the Story of Talents that if you use your talents well, God will give you more. Therefore, I’m very happy when I heard you people talking here. I could see that you have captured many of the elements that we were arguing about in the 1960s.”

President Museveni also reminded believers that when the NRM government had just come to power in 1986, a group of religious leaders approached him and requested that he ban the Balokole Churches. He however turned down the request and his simple decision has since helped to create a new energy that has added value to the country. 

“I had a good foundation from the Bible so when these very powerful people came telling me to ban the Balokole churches, I remembered when people told Jesus that some people were pretending to cast out demons like he was doing, they asked him if they could stop them. Jesus told them don’t stop them, if they are not against us, they are with us. So, I didn’t see why I should fight people who say that they are also working for God in their own way,” the President asserted. 

“From that you can see that there has been a lot of value addition. The old churches are there but the new churches are also there. Anybody who wants can go anywhere he wants. I’m very happy for that simple decision since it helped to create new energy.”

Additionally, President Museveni contributed Shs100 million to the Church SACCO. 

The Secretary General of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), Rt. Hon. Richard Todwong said Bishop David Isanga personally invited them to the Crusade to witness God’s decree over President Museveni’s leadership and wonders for the people of Uganda. 

“Indeed, we can confirm and attest to the fact that your generosity and leadership to the people of Uganda has seen Ugandans in their various capacities excel including the Church,” he said. 

“We thank you, I have read through the doctrines of the Church, especially the Universal Apostles Fellowship Church of Righteousness. Your Excellency,  they stand for four important things. One is that they believe in righteousness as a spiritual prerequisite to inherit the kingdom of God, secondly, they teach their members that the family institution is for one man, one wife, they also believe in the church court that helps in the spiritual guidance, but above all they teach their members hard-work. You have always guided us, taught us that wherever we are as leaders, we should help a common person to live a better life and I find that as one of the key pillars of this church.”

Rt. Hon. Todwong also informed the President that the followers of the Church pledged to work and support the NRM government and the President. 

On his part, Apostle Isanga thanked President Museveni for honouring their invitation. 

“For a long time we have been waiting for this moment and I have been urging the believers to support the NRM government and President Museveni. I thank God because when you promised that you will come back after the first visit in 2013 to see what Universal Church does, we have been patient until today when you have honoured your promise,” he said. 

“Our love for you and the government cannot be overemphasised because you brought peace that has enabled all Ugandans to work and prosper.”

Prophet Isanga also commended President Museveni for the good governance and for being exemplary to the whole world. 

“It will also be remembered that during your leadership, our church started from Uganda and spread throughout the world.”

He also assured the President that his followers, especially the youth, are not among the criminals or violent protestors and they are strong supporters of the NRM government. 

Furthermore, Prophet Isanga thanked the President for his strong stance against homosexuality where he proved this by passing the Anti-Homosexuality Law. 

The Crusade was also attended by Ministers, Members of Parliament, among others.