Born Again finally gets Inter Religious Council acceptance, Faith now recognized as a religious denomination

Born Again finally gets Inter Religious Council acceptance

Faith now recognized as a religious denomination

KAMPALA. The Born Again faith commonly known as Balokole have been accepted as  full  members of the Inter Religious Council of Uganda  after government  officially recognised the group  as one of the distinct faiths in the country .

This means that Born Again Faith (BAF) national leader, Pastor Joseph Sserwadda now becomes one of the council of presidents of IRCU.

Over the years, Born Again churches have been considered as NGOs and have been required to renew their registration with the National NGO Registration  Board annually.

Their admission to IRCU qualifies the Balolole to enjoy the same status like other religious denominations like Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, Protestants and Seventh Day Adventists. BAF first applied to become IRCU member in 2009 , but they  were given conditions to fulfill  first .One of the constitutional conditions for joining IRCU  is to belong as an observer while implementing several programmes  such as HIV/Aids ,good governance ,peace and reconciliation with them for at least three years.

BAF spokesperson ,Charles Tumwine yesterday described their   recognition by ICRU as a resounding achievement  since their  faith has suffered prejudices due to increasing cases of individuals who masquerade    as pastors.

“We express special thanks to the council of Presidents for deeming us worthy to become a member of the council. We are now a legitimate and officially recognised institutionalized faith body,” Tumwine told journalists at a  press conference in Kampala yesterday

Pastor Sserwadda said getting IRCU’s  acceptance gives them more credence and no one will be allowed to tag the title  “pastor” or start a church without BAF’s  clearance .

“ Many people have been masquerading   as pastors yet they don’t head any church . We are going to sieve them and genuine pastors will be getting a church permit from us,” he said

But Internal Affairs Ministry acting publicist Benjamin Katana said despite the Born Again being recognised as a faith the country, the law still empowers the board to regulate their operations.

“They (Born Again) can do their registration under their umbrella ,but it  is not tenable because they are not a government institution .What I know the  board will have to create a different mechanism in future  of registering churches not as  NGOs ,” he said by telephone

Born Again faith is one of the fastest growing branches of Christianity in the Uganda attracting mostly the youth and women and has overtaken some of the old faiths in numbers . BAF currently boasts of about 5000 registered churches across the country .In February ,2006, while attending a born again conference at Mandela Stadium Namboole ,President Museveni directed that Balokole be recognized like other faiths and their churches  cease to be registered as charities .

Islam was the first foreign religion to get acceptance in Uganda having been brought by an Arab trader Ahmed Bin Ibrahim in 1844,followed by Anglican missionaries  in 1877 and two years later ,French Catholic Fathers arrived .

NCHE orders Kayiwa varsity to close academic programmes ,Varsity has no license to admit students

NCHE orders Kayiwa varsity to close academic programmes

Varsity has no license to admit students

KAMPALA.National Council for Higher Education has ordered Kayiwa International University to suspend all its academic programmes until the council evaluates its capacity to handle such programmes .

According to NCHE executive Director, Prof.John Opuda , the  university  has not yet been cleared to offer academic courses and the land on which it is situated is still under dispute.

“In fact what they are doing is in total violation of the law that governs higher institutions of learning. We are sending another team there because they have failed what we expected them to do ,” he said in an interview  last Friday

Prof.Opuda said Kayiwa International University’s current status(Letter of Interim Authority) only allows it to establish structures. An Interim Letter of Authority is issued to an applicant who, in the opinion of the Council, has a good project proposal for the establishment of a university. The project developer is required to develop the project further and mobilise resources, but is not allowed to admit students. The Letter of Interim Authority is valid for three years. When the institution complies well, it is then issued with a provisional license and later a Charter .But after getting a provisional license, a university can start admitting students and issues degrees, diplomas and certificates.

But Pastor Simeon Kayiwa, the university  proprietor described  Prof.Opuda’ s  claims as baseless ,insisting that there no academic programmes  conducted at his premises .However ,he admitted that there  are some  students particularly from the nearby Ndejje University Kampala campus who occasionally go there purposely to revise their books.

“ Ever since I started that institution , we have never conducted any lectures .What happens  is that some students from Ndejje University city campus some times  during their exams come to  our campus and may be these are the ones they mistaken to be ours ( students),”  he said by telephone yesterday

On the land that house the institution, Kayiwa said the land is not encumbered   and has since granted the university project a 49-year lease to allow it expand.

“This land is my personal property and has no controversy whosoever. I gave part of it (2.5acres) to the university and the evidence is there for  whoever has doubts on what I am saying  .” he added.

He said ever  since he  attained an Interim Letter of Authority in 2010, he has been putting in place what is required to acquire a license from NCHE.

“Last week, even a team from NCHE was here and we showed them everything. I can now  firmly say that we  have all what it takes to handle all the courses we applied for and only waiting for NCHE’s clearance which seems to have delayed,” Kayiwa said

Kayiwa has since 2010 been battling with NCHE which accuses him of operating an illegal institution.

Two years ago, Kayiwa told this newspaper during an interview   that the students who were studying at his university then belonged to foreign universities, which are dually registered in the US ,but he declined to name the institutions. 

In 2010, about 100 Ugandan and 200 foreign students graduated from the university based at Kayiwa’s Namirembe Christian Church  but their academic qualifications   were questioned by NCHE, saying the institution is neither registered nor accredited. But Kayiwa defended this, saying the academic qualifications were awarded from the US, but since he enjoyed a good working relationship with the institutions there, they agreed that the students  receive their papers from Uganda.

According to section 118(1) of the university and other Tertiary institutions Act, no person shall establish or operate as university or tertiary institution without the relevant provisional license, charter or certificate granted by NCHE.

For a university to get a provisional licence ,it must have at least more than 10 percent of staff with PhD, 40 percent with masters degrees, enough infrastructure and land (at least one square metre per four students in class and three acres of land for urban universities and at least 10 acres for rural universities), science and computer labs (with at least one computer for every 30 students)

Education Ministry accepts teachers’ appeals

February ,8,2014

Education Ministry accepts teachers’ appeals

KAMPALA.The Ministry of Education has accepted appeals by at least 58 head teachers and deputy head teachers who were dissatisfied with the recent transfers. Some teachers had applied to be moved to other schools but were not considered in the December transfers schedule.

Others were transferred to schools where they did not want to go. The Church and Muslim leaders had earlier complained that they were never consulted as the founding bodies of some schools when the initial transfers were made.

Mr Francis Agula, the Commissioner for Secondary Education, said on Thursday that they had resolved the teachers’ grievances and all of them must report to their respective stations not later than this week to avoid lapses in supervision at the schools. “When their (teachers) issues were brought to our attention, we looked at them and took a decision for the purposes of continuity,” Mr Agula said.

He said some teachers were single at the time of deployment but have since married and need to be in schools not far from their families. Out of the 58 transferred teachers, 23 are deputies. Some of the prominent teachers transferred include: Ms Immaculate Aneso, a deputy head teacher at Mt St Mary’s Namagunga who has been posted to PMM Girls School in Jinja as head teacher, while Mr Tom Otim of St Joseph’s College, Layibi, has moved to Atapara SS in Oyam District.

Brother Anthony Lubwama, who has been deputy head teacher at St Mary’s College Kisubi, is now the acting head teacher after the Church rejected Mr Deodata Mukisa from St Edward‘s SS -Bukumi who the ministry had posted there. 
Brother Lubwama replaces Brother Edward Bukenya who has been at the helm of SMACK for 15 years.

Last month, the ministry announced transfer of 1370 secondary school teachers, including head teachers and deputy head teachers in a shake-up that officials said is intended to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in schools. Of the 1370 teachers, 108 were head teachers and 26 deputies.