City Pastor Aloysius Bugingo of Makerere Kikoni-based House of Prayer Ministries has been dragged to court by residents over noise pollution.
The residents say that the pastor’s church has made their neighbourhood a dangerous place to live because of the loud noise.
An 85-year old Hajji Ali Sserunjogi a resident of Makerere Zone Kawempe Division says that before Pastor Aloysius Bugingo established his Pentecostal Church in 2015, they enjoyed a quiet, serene and clean environment which is now unheard of due to too much noise that comes from this Church housed in temporary structures.
Mr. Sserunjogi, who wants Pr. Bugingo’s license cancelled, also sued the National Environmental Authority (NEMA) and Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) accusing them of failing in their statutory duty of regulating the amount of noise emitted by Pastor Bugingo’s Church day and night.
Through his lawyers, Sserunjogi is now asking Court to cancel Pastor Bugingo’s license which permitted him to establish a Church in a residential area or compel both NEMA and KCCA to regulate the emitted sound to the approved levels as prescribed by law.
He further demands that Pastor Bugingo pays them damages for infringing on their right to enjoy a serene and health environment for now close to three years.
He says there are many hard working people living in the neighbourhood who require peace and quiet during day or night.
“Ever since the 1st respondent (Pr Bugingo) commenced church operations in our area, we are experiencing untold inconvenience or interference with our night and day activities as a result of the excessive, unbearable emission of noise/sound from the 1st respondent’s premises/church,” Mr Serunjogi states in his suit.
