Members of the congregation during a praise and worship session in church
The government says it is determined to have all religious institutions in the country regulated with a new policy following reports of manipulation of followers, financial impropriety and propagation of harmful doctrines in churches.
The Religious Faith Organisations (RFO) policy which was initiated in 2016, met stiff resistance from a section of born-again church leaders in the country who have on several occasions called for it to be shelved.
This was after President Museveni in June 2015 instituted a fully-fledged department of religious affairs at the Directorate of Ethics and Integrity and appointed a director for religious affairs to monitor and regulate and advise the government on activities and operations of the religious faith organisations.
On June 4, 2025, the Directorate for Ethics and Integrity, Office of the President, held a pre-validation consultation meeting over the policy ahead of the national validation exercise scheduled for June 26, 2025.
The meeting attracted officials from the Uganda Human Rights Commission, the Inspectorate of Government (IGG), the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP), judges, Uganda Human Rights Commission, NIRA, and Members of Parliament, among others.
Speaking at the opening of the consultations, the Under Secretary, Directorate for Ethics and Integrity, Mr Joel Wanjala, said there are growing concerns over the misuse of religious platforms, among others, that call for urgent attention to streamline.
“There is a growing concern over the misuse of religious platforms for personal gains, manipulation of followers and even financial impropriety and propagation of harmful doctrines. Now this situation cannot continue like this,” he said.
According to him, the risks coupled with the absence of a structured mechanism for engagement pose a threat to public order, citizen welfare and national unity.
The National NGO policy 2010 identified the above-mentioned gaps but excluded the registration of faith-based organisations, except those who engage in Non-Governmental activities.
The same highlighted the need for a distinct legal and administrative framework that would adequately address spiritual and operational dimensions of the religious institutions, and to date, no such tailored policy has been instituted.
The deputy IGG, Dr Patricia Achan Okiria who was part of the consultations, said the policy will strengthen the relationship between the government and religious institutions.
“The policy recognises the significant contribution these institutions make in the country in terms of medical, health care, infrastructural development in terms of education and so on, but there is a need to regulate to ensure that everybody is in harmony,” he added.
She further dismissed fears that the policy is geared towards interfering with the offertory collections and how faith-based institutions conduct business.
“The government wants to regulate to ensure that there is harmony because everybody else now can open a church yet there should be some streamlined mechanism to ensure that churches are not mushrooming in even residential places,” she added.
Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye, the director for religious affairs, attributed the delay to have this policy in place to dissenting views.
“It is an emotive and sensitive policy. So, we thought it wise not to rush it,” he said.
He argued that as much as there is freedom of worship in the country, the constitution does not spell out how this freedom should be exercised.
Mr Stephen Tanyebwa, the public relations officer, Phaneroo Ministries, however, said there are issues that need to be aligned.
“When you look at the issues related to criminality in the Church, this cannot be a basis for us to bundle the entire Church. If a pastor has been caught in any criminality, we believe there other laws already that can address these issues without necessarily coming up with another regulation,” he said.
Members of different MDAs pose for a group photo after a pre-validation meeting on the RFOs policy on June 4, 2025
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