‘Dens Of Bandits’: Thousands Of Churches Shut Down

Grace Room Ministries was once a prominent evangelical organization in Rwanda, hosting large gatherings in stadiums three times a week.

However, it was shut down in May as part of a broader government action affecting approximately 10,000 churches. This crackdown is linked to a 2018 law aimed at regulating places of worship across the country.

The legislation establishes new requirements concerning health and safety, financial transparency, and mandates that all preachers possess formal theological training.

President Paul Kagame has expressed strong criticism of the proliferation of evangelical churches in Rwanda, reflecting concerns about their impact and governance.

“If it were up to me I wouldn’t even reopen a single church,” Kagame told a news briefing last month.

“In all the development challenges we are dealing with, the wars… our country’s survival — what is the role of these churches? Are they also providing jobs? Many are just thieving… some churches are just a den of bandits,” he said.

The vast majority of Rwandans are Christian according to a 2024 census, with many now travelling long and costly distances to find places to pray.

Observers say the real reason for the closures comes down to control.

Kagame’s government is saying “there’s no rival in terms of influence,” Louis Gitinywa, a lawyer and political analyst based in Kigali, told AFP.

The ruling party “bristles when an organisation or individual gains influence”, he said, a view also expressed to AFP by an anonymous government official.

The 2018 law requires churches to submit annual action plans stating how they align with “national values”. All donations must be channelled through registered accounts.

Pastor Sam Rugira, whose two church branches were shut down last year for failing to meet fire safety regulations, said the rules mostly affected new evangelical churches that have “mushroomed” in recent years.

But Kagame has described the church as a relic of the colonial period, a chapter of its history with which the country is still grappling.

“You have been deceived by the colonisers and you let yourself be deceived,” he said in November.

The closure of Grace Room Ministries came as a shock to many across the country.

Pastor Julienne Kabanda, had been drawing massive crowds to the shiny new BK Arena in Kigali when the church’s licence was revoked.

The government had cited unauthorised evangelical activities and a failure to submit “annual activity and financial reports”.

AFP was unable to reach Kabanda for comment.

A church leader in Kigali, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the president’s “open disdain and disgust” for churches “spells tough times ahead”.

“It is unfair that even those that fulfilled all requirements are still closed,” he added.

But some say the clampdown on places of worship is linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which around 800,000 people, mostly ethnic Tutsis, were slaughtered.

Ismael Buchanan a political science lecturer at the National University of Rwanda, told AFP the church could sometimes act as “a conduit of recruitment” for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the Hutu militia formed in exile in DR Congo by those who committed the genocide.

“I agree religion and faith have played a key role in healing Rwandans from the emotional and psychological wounds after the genocide, but it also makes no sense to have a church every two kilometres instead of hospitals and schools,” he said.

Pastor Rugira meanwhile suggested the government is “regulating what it doesn’t understand”.

It should instead work with churches to weed out “bad apples” and help them meet requirements, especially when it comes to the donations they rely on to survive, he said.