By Aggrey Baba
When the Electoral Commission (EC), last week, announced a ban on fundraising in places of worship during this campaign season, many expected uproar from the men and women of God. But instead, silence fell, like shepherds watching wolves evade their herd but refusing to bark.
Former Government Spokesperson, Ofwono Opondo has, through his weekly column in the NewVision, stepped into the storm, accusing religious leaders in Uganda of turning faith into a money-making machine, just like a “business with no start-up capital,” built on superstition and unquestioned loyalty.
Opondo argued that Byabakama’s ban will be hard to police, as politicians may no longer parade brown envelopes in churches and mosques, but nothing stops them from sliding cash quietly “under the blanket” of men and women of God. He cited the experience of the COVID-19 lockdowns when prayers moved to people’s homes, and offertories ended up in priests’ pockets with little or no accountability.
According to him, religion in Uganda has become a heavily paying business model, where poor believers donate their last coins, while priests and pastors drive posh cars, build colorful cathedrals, and live in dream mansions. Meanwhile, the very people funding this opulence struggle to put food on their tables, pay school fees, or access basic healthcare. In Opondo’s words, religion has become a “castle built on poverty.”
Ofwono warned the public against waiting for miracles from imported gods of Europe, Arabia, or even the traditional gods of Africa. For him, expecting deliverance from the heavens is like waiting for rain in a desert sky.
He noted that what Uganda needs is not endless prayer but hard work, planning, and productivity.
Opondo didn’t stop with churches and mosques. He went on to accuse NGOs and democracy groups of also cashing in during election season, beating drums of fear about violence and chaos just to attract donor money. For him, it’s all one big performance staged for money.
His heaviest Jab was aimed at the blind respect people give priests, noting that citizens can question government, soldiers, or even the President himself, but never a priest in a white collar. To him, clergy have become untouchable landlords [Assistant Gods as Genz call them of late] of faith, raiding state coffers and taxpayers’ pockets while ordinary services like schools and hospitals collapse.
He pointed to the irony, that church-founded schools that once stood for quality are now declining, while bishops and pastors’ houses and church compounds shine brighter every year. Hospitals under religious control, he noted, even hold dead bodies hostage over unpaid bills, and priests sometimes refuse to bury the poor unless fees are fully settled. For Opondo, this is not charity but pure business, where “faith is sold at a price.” (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
