Pastors call emergency meeting after KCCA boss ‘orders demolition’ of Wakiso church

Born-again church leaders have called an emergency meeting after a church in Wakiso district was demolished on Friday, September 18, amid allegations that a senior Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) official influenced the operation.

Restoration Church of Christ in Bujuuko, Wakiso district, was razed by local authorities in an operation that church leaders say involved officials from the area and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).

The Born Again Faith Secretariat alleges that the demolition followed the intervention of Douglas Nsubuga, the acting Town Clerk of Kampala Central Division.

This website could not independently verify the alleged involvement of Nsubuga in the church demolition.

Pastor Herbert Buyondo, who oversees born-again churches in Kampala Metropolitan, said the incident had caused alarm among church leaders.

“The country is on fire. Demolition of churches has resumed from where it stopped. It is time to fight back. They will kill us in our churches but we shall not be quiet,” Buyondo said.

He announced that pastors and other stakeholders will meet at Victory Christian Centre in Ndeeba on Monday, September 21, starting at 8am.

According to Buyondo, the meeting was called by Pastor Joseph Serwadda, the head of the Born Again Faith in Uganda.

Officials from the Ministry of Local Government, KCCA, police and NEMA have been invited to explain the enforcement operations.

The pastors also plan to sign a petition for submission to President Yoweri Museveni.

Church leaders say tensions started before Friday’s demolition.

They claim that on Sunday, September 13, NEMA enforcement officers arrested the Restoration Church pastor, identified as Michael during a church service. 

According to the church, officers picked him from the pulpit and took him to NEMA offices in Kampala, where he was held for about five hours.

The Born Again Secretariat further alleges that Nsubuga, who lives in Bujuuko, had previously opposed the presence of the church in the area.

Secretariat official Andrew Lugolobi alleges that Nsubuga has used his influence with government agencies to push for the church's removal. 

Pastor Michael also disputes any suggestion that the church was causing noise pollution. He says the congregation does not have a public address system.

The pastors are now expected to use Monday’s meeting to seek explanations from government agencies and demand clarity on whether the earlier suspension of church demolitions remains in force.

The dispute comes about five months after a government campaign to enforce what it called “trade order” triggered protests over the demolition of places of worship.

The operation followed a March 10 circular from the Ministry of Local Government directing local authorities to restore order in urban centres. 

The exercise targeted roadside vending, illegal structures and activities that authorities said violated physical planning rules.

But enforcement teams also moved against churches and mosques. Born-again leaders complained that several worship centres had been demolished while others had been marked for removal.

In an April 14 petition, leaders of Born Again Pentecostal Churches said town and city clerks had demolished a number of places of worship. They argued that the operation threatened constitutional protections on freedom of worship.

The protests prompted Local Government minister Raphael Magyezi to meet a delegation of Pentecostal leaders headed by Serwadda on April 22.

Two days later, State Minister for Industry David Bahati told Parliament that government had suspended the wider trade-order operation to allow further consultations.

Bahati acknowledged that churches and mosques had been caught up in the crackdown and apologised for remarks reportedly made by some enforcement officers against Pentecostal Christians and Muslims.

Cabinet later allowed the wider trade-order exercise to resume, but specifically suspended the demolition of churches. Magyezi said places of worship would be given time to improve their structures, secure approved building plans and meet other regulatory requirements.