Cicero
JF-Expert Member
- Jan 20, 2016
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“Seven hundred churches in Kigali? Are these boreholes that give people water?” asked President Paul Kagame when he heard that more than 700 churches had been closed down by authorities.
“I don’t think we have as many boreholes. Do we even have as many factories? But 700 churches, which you even had to close? This has been a mess!”
The closure this week by the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) was meant to tighten rules on registration and functioning of churches in the country in the face of rising cases of fraud and security concerns.
Religious and rights groups said the closure amounts to infringement on the right to worship, but the government says the crackdown is timely, in the face of thousands of mushrooming churches in the largely Christian country.
“I don’t think we have as many boreholes. Do we even have as many factories? But 700 churches, which you even had to close? This has been a mess!”
The closure this week by the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) was meant to tighten rules on registration and functioning of churches in the country in the face of rising cases of fraud and security concerns.
Religious and rights groups said the closure amounts to infringement on the right to worship, but the government says the crackdown is timely, in the face of thousands of mushrooming churches in the largely Christian country.