Rwandan President Paul Kagame has stated that he is considering implementing a tax on church donations to address the issue of evangelical clerics engaging in extortion and exploitation.
In his first speech following his recent re-election, Kagame strongly condemned religious leaders who misuse their positions to manipulate and extract money from individuals.
“These unscrupulous people who use religion and churches to manipulate and fleece people of their money and other things will force us to introduce a tax, so churches pay tax on the money they get from people,” he said.
Rwandan officials announced this week that they had shut down approximately 8,000 churches operating without proper authorisation and failed to meet infrastructure standards.
Addressing the public after overseeing Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente’s reappointment and the induction of new parliament members, President Kagame stated his intention to target additional unauthorised religious leaders and their places of worship.
“If truth is to be told, these mushrooming churches are just there to squeeze even the last penny from poor Rwandans, as those who own them enrich themselves,” said Mr Kagame.
The number of Pentecostal churches in Rwanda has been increasing recently. Many of them have adopted the prosperity gospel doctrine, which has attracted a larger number of “poor worshippers.”
The challenge of regulating preachers is not unique to Rwanda. Uganda announced last week that it plans to release a white paper on regulating worship following reports of extortion by religious leaders.
In Kenya, the judiciary is currently dealing with the case of Paul Mackenzie and his followers, accused of manipulating worshippers into participating in deadly fasting.