President Museveni has said that the government might take keen interest in pastors or religious leaders healing the sick to ensure public safety and maintain legal and ethical standards.
“Coming to the healing, this is my second time here. When I came, I saw Pastor Kakande healing some people. Now I have come again. So, we’re going to take interest in your healing,” President Museveni said.
The president made the revelation on Sunday while commissioning the Temple Mount Church of All
Nations in Mulago, Kampala, managed by Pastor Samuel Kakande.
The unveiled new mega church, according to Pastor Kakande, has the capacity to accommodate between 25,000 and 30,000 believers.
“I want to congratulate your church on building this magnificent worship centre. Pastor Kakande may not remember, but I had come here many years ago to your ram-shackled place. So, I congratulate you,” he noted.
Museveni said that while government must respect religious freedom; they also must protect public health, prevent exploitation, and ensure justice.
He gave an example of a certain man he watched on television who claimed that his mother, who was diagnosed with cancer, got healed just by believing in God, 43 years later after the doctors concluded that there was no cure.
“Those stories are there. Now in your case, if you heal, the government is a quality controller. When there are industrial products, there’s an organ called the National Bureau of Standards. For healing, there are professional health bodies which must be involved. This means we must get those people-the ones you say were healed; we must check. If he comes, let’s first get proof that he is sick. Don’t heal him immediately. Let’s take the biochemistry, the blood, and other checks so that we know that he is sick, and then you cure him. Thereafter, we will praise you for the miracle. So, we’re now going to take interest, especially if you get money out of it,” Museveni stated.
He further gave an example of the holy water at Namugongo, which people usually drink, saying that it’s healing water.
The same in Busoga at Bishop Hannington Centre, where people pick water from the swamp. All these water sources, according to the president, have since been checked.
“Fine, if it is free water, you take it. If you’re healed, there’s no problem. But if you’re selling the water, that’s a business now. We are going to study that water. So, I think you have called me a consultant. The only interest of the government would be that it’s not dangerous or harmful to the people. But if you sell, then we don’t only check for no harm to people but for the quality of healing.”
He warned that, whereas auditing religions is not the work of the government, religious groups must be careful not to break the law.
This danger, the president observed, stems from a section of religious leaders who discourage people from seeking medical attention when they get sick.
He gave an example of the late Owobusobozi Bisaka, who told somebody not to go to the hospital and that he (Bisaka) would cure him, and the person died.
“We had to be in trouble with Mr. Bisaka. We had to charge him. So, that would be another danger. If you say don’t go to the hospital, I will cure you, and then somebody dies or the condition gets worse, that would be another problem. Now that you have invited me. I will direct the professional bodies of health or healing to work with you and check,” Museveni reiterated.
About respecting freedom of worship, the president reiterated the battle he won that involved the call by some traditional churches to ban the Balokole (born-again or Pentecostal), accusing their counterparts of being liars, purporting to be performing miracles.
“I said that if they are liars, God will deal with them,” President Museveni said while borrowing an example from the Bible where Jesus refused to stop people who pretended to be casting out demons like him.
“Jesus said no. If they are not against us, they’re with us. This is what I told the old religions, and that’s how I left these Pentecostal churches and pastors like Kakande and Kayanja,” Museveni said, adding that by the 1960s the freedom of worship was a complex matter perpetrated by politics of sectarianism based on religion and tribe, and this had affected the broader national unity, wealth and development.
“We rejected all that. For us, we didn’t mind which religion or tribe you belong to or race, and when we came into the government, we made this very clear that it’s not the job of the government to audit which religion is right or wrong. That’s God’s work, not the government. If you’re telling lies, God will deal with you,” President Museveni observed .
He emphasized that as a political leader, his job begins when a child forms to ensure that things are alright when the mother goes for antenatal to check the baby in the womb until she gives birth, providing paediatrics health care, and to ensure the child gets education and immunisation for proper growth until the child finishes school and wants to create jobs.
And when he becomes mature or elderly, it is still the government’s job to look after the elderly.
“When you die, we have to ensure that your grave is not disturbed, but beyond that, where you go, that’s not my job. That’s where I stop, and I leave the rest to God to judge,” the President clarified.
Pastor Kakande hailed President Museveni for sticking to his vision of maintaining peace and security such that people can enjoy their freedoms, including freedom of worship.
“In your vision, you took time to imagine what a Ugandan should look like and how he should live. And since we were all created by God, you said that every Ugandan should have freedom of worship. So, we are the people who have benefited from the fruits of peace as the beneficiaries of the freedom of worship,” Pastor Kakande said, adding that the freedom of worship has led to the promotion of religious tourism.
He noted that every week the church receives between 800 to 1000 people from countries such as Zambia, South Africa, Namibia, DRC, Botswana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya, among others.
“If it was not for the peace and freedom of worship, these people from outside countries would not have come to Uganda. Much as we’re jubilant about peace, we must thank that person whom God used to bring this vision and keep it up to today.”
“Despite what they say, what happens here is salvation, active healing, deliverances, and all of God’s blessings,” he added.
Constructed in 2020, the Temple Mount Church of All Nations is a state-of-the-art building that is impressive not only for its size but also for its distinctive features, which include 100 opulent hotel rooms with heavenly inspiration to house worshippers and tourists.
In addition to restaurants, the new church offers a shopping centre where guests can make purchases.
It is anticipated that Prophet Kakande’s new church will draw worshippers and visitors from all over the world, solidifying Uganda’s standing as a spiritual travel destination.
