Gen Muhoozi hints on Rwanda‑like crack‑down on churches

General Muhoozi Kainerugaba on Wednesday night made remarks that revived questions about the future of religious freedom in Uganda. 

The Uganda army chief in a social media post indicated that he’d prefer high education qualifications for anyone running a church.

“Our opinion as PLU (Patriotic League of Uganda - a political and civil front that Muhoozi leads) is that you should at least have a theological degree before you lead a church,” the CDF wrote on X

The post drew mixed reactions, with many of the general’s followers expressing support.

“Our fake pastors should go back to school!  We don't need their fake miracles,” wrote one Ssebunya”

Others, however, deferred. 

Samuel Oyetre wrote, “Afande we pray you kindly rethink this position. The lord’s calling and  enablement by divine anointing not by human theological qualification. It’s sad to require “degrees” for pastors when the MPs who abuse you are required to have S.6. Rwanda destroyed the church this way.”

Gen Muhoozi’s post was made just hours after Rwandan President Paul Kagame, his known role model, accused some religious leaders of exploiting congregations and misusing religion for personal gain. 

Kagame warned at a public event in Kigali of people “hiding behind a religion, hiding behind a church, setting up something that is only meant to serve their own interests and rob others.”

“That should not happen in any religion, of whatever kind. That is different from persecuting religions or churches. Putting things in order is not persecution,” declared the president.

Over the past few years, Rwanda has implemented some of the strictest guidelines for running churches anywhere in the region. 

The government has enforced a 2018 law regulating faith‑based organisations that requires churches to meet specific health, safety and financial reporting standards to operate legally. 

As part of this package of measures, religious leaders must hold formal theological training, submit annual reports, channel donations through licensed banks and comply with strict building codes. Churches that fail to meet these requirements face fines, closure or other sanctions

Authorities have applied the regulations with growing vigour. In recent years, more than 10,000 evangelical churches have been closed for non‑compliance, and tens of thousands more prayer houses have been inspected with many forced to shut. 

Some churches that once filled stadiums for worship now stand empty because they did not obtain permits, provide required documentation or meet new standards. 

President Kagame has repeatedly defended the crackdown. He has questioned the value of a sprawling network of churches while development needs such as hospitals and schools remain under‑resourced. He even described some faith organisations as “den of bandits” and expressed scepticism about reopening closed places of worship. 

In Uganda, churches, especially in the Born-again movement, known locally as Balokole, have enjoyed widespread freedom under the long‑standing National Resistance Movement (NRM) government for more than four decades. 

However, concerns about a Rwanda‑style clampdown have surfaced within this large and rapidly growing community. 

In February, Pastor Joseph Serwadda of Victory Church in Ndeeba warned that the survival of the born‑again faith depended heavily on its political backing. 

He said that without the support of leaders such as President Yoweri Museveni, the movement might struggle due to hostility it faces from powerful figures who view its influence with suspicion. 

“In Uganda, they cannot introduce a bill banning the Born-Again church and it fails to pass in Parliament. It is not possible,” he declared.

“There is not a single religion that would stand up to save us. All born-against Christians are equally hated regardless of their tribe or age. In every region, if you are a born-again, you are an outcast. We are only surviving.”

Serwadda says the survival of his faith is now heavily contingent on President Yoweri Museveni who has repeatedly been pushed to ban them and chose not to.

“Some people go as far as accusing us of being bewitched because we support President Museveni. But Museveni is the only one that looked the other way. He said, ‘the Born Agains must be left alone. We shall go after them only when they are involved in crime.’” he said.

“He left us alone and indeed in the years he has been in office; we have benefitted a lot because he turned a blind eye. God will decide when he takes him away but the time he’s been around, we have benefitted.”

The Born-again movement has seen tumultuous growth in Uganda over the past decades. 

Although Christianity had deep roots in the country since the late 19th century, the independent Pentecostal and Evangelical churches associated with the Born-again identity expanded rapidly from the 1960s onwards. 

However, during the dictatorship of President Idi Amin, who came to power in 1971, a sweeping clampdown on religious organisations occurred. 

In 1977, Amin’s government abolished or banned a range of Christian groups, including several Pentecostal and evangelical ministries, as part of a broader policy that limited formal recognition to only a few mainline faiths such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox churches. 

Many Born-again believers were forced underground or into home fellowships to maintain their worship in secret.

After Amin’s fall in 1979, Uganda entered a period of relative religious freedom that allowed these charismatic expressions of Christianity to flourish. 

By the time Museveni came to power in 1986, the movement was beginning to take root more visibly.

According to statements from President Museveni and recent reporting, when he assumed leadership in the mid-1980s, some influential religious figures urged him to ban the Born-again movement. 

Museveni reportedly refused, telling opponents that if there were false prophets among them, “God will deal with them” rather than the state doing so. His decision effectively granted the movement freedom to worship and expand.