Street preachers want policy to harmonise their work

Street crusaders under the Bible Evangelism Ministry have asked government to come up with a policy that harmonizes preaching and interpretation of the Bible and the Quran.

The crusaders claim some religions consider themselves stronger than the other which greatly marginalizes the other.

While addressing journalists, the crusaders also expressed disappointment over the way the Islamic followers are blaspheming Christianity.

This comes at the time when the Supreme Mufti Sheik Sulaiman Kasule Ndirangwa, Latif Sebaggala and other Muslim clerics are warning Christians against reading the Quran publically or else there shall be use of force.

"We know what the bible says and we follow what it says, what we cannot allow is to give one religion an upper hand over the others because we are all Ugandans with equal rights.

There is no religion that is superior to the other that is why the constitution talks about the freedom of worship, so anyone can worship the way they want but  we cannot allow any religion to have an upper hand more than the other that is why we support being regulated," said Ivan Bushija an evangelist.

He told journalists that they had written letters to the Muslim clerics seeking for a meeting to talk about the detailed information of their cause but in vain.

"We would like to make it clear that for over 30 years, Muslim street preachers in their respective Dawa Association have publically blasphemed and made allegations against Christianity in their open crusades.

They have also taken a step and published several books blaspheming the Bible, Christianity and Christian leaders which we cannot allow" he said.

He highlighted some of the books that have been written with titles like "Baptism is not a command from God", "Christianity was built on foundation of Satanism", "Lies in the Bible", "Islam in the Bible", "Mistakes in the Bible and "Balokole is on a foundation of the devil" by various Muslim clerics.

Some of the literature claimed to have been written by Muslim clerics which blaspheme Christianity. Photo by Agnes Nantambi

"It should be noted that the writers of these books have been praised and commended by the Mufti of Uganda and other Muslim clerics having done a great job.

We are here to make our point clear that we came out to defend our faith as Christians on behalf of the Christians body at large" he said.

He observed that Muslims and Christians worship different Gods emphasizing that they are to continue with preaching the Bible and the Quran publically.

When contacted the spokesperson of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council Hajji Nsereko Mutumba, he said fights among religions must end since all religions have been living harmoniously and that if any religious issue that needs to be addressed, the inter-religious council can do that.

"As the national spokesperson for the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, we condemn such acts and we are not in support of any and it should end immediately" Mutumba said.

According to Isa Bamulangayesu, 90% of the crusaders were former Muslims who preach what they know better.

"We went into Islamic schools and mastered the Quran at a tender age but after identifying the loopholes we converted to Christianity and it's our right" he said.