Members of Parliament have rejected a move by Manjiya County MP, Hon. John Baptist Nambeshe, to introduce a Private Member’s Bill that aims to regulate religious organisations.
Nambeshe said the bill titled the Religious Organisations Bill, 2019, seeks to have all religious Organisations registered and established under one regulatory authority.
He added that there ought to be a regulatory framework to make sure that religious organizations only set up in gazetted areas.
“It is common to find religious sects operating in residential areas and other noise sensitive areas causing discomfort to people,” he said.
The Bill pursues to establish a law to provide legal framework for registration, regulation and management of religious organizations in the country.
The legislator told his colleagues that the proposed Religious Organizations Bill does not contravene the constitutional provisions of freedom of worship but only aims at harmonizing the activities of religious institutions.
“The laws that regulate religious sects like the Constitution of Uganda 1995, Church of England Trustees Act and the Non-Governmental Organisational Act 2016 among others do not provide a uniform mechanism of monitoring religious organisations,” Nambeshe added.
The presentation by Nambeshe, who is an NRM “rebel” member, was followed by condemnation from both sides of the house with others labeling it as satanic.
Kasiano Wadri of Arua Municipality who started the debate told the house that no one should attempt to regulate the sacred affairs of Church.
“As a Catholic, we believe that there is only one Church in Rome. Whatever you see here is an appendage of what is in Rome. Therefore, we cannot subject ourselves to any sort of registration or control,” said Wadri.
The Opposition Chief Whip, Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda swiftly took the microphone to say the Bill was “satanic”.
“As a Muslim I want to tell you that I will not support what my faith will consider a satanic Bill,” said Ssemujju.
Meanwhile other MPs, in a possible blackmail course, told Nambeshe who comes from mudslide prone Bududa district, to instead direct his energy to introduce a Bill meant to combat landslides.
The Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, deferred a vote on the motion due to lack of quorum as there were only 112 MPs present in the House.
