Banning street preachers an attack on Christianity - Buturo

Former Ethics Minister and chairperson of the Parliamentary Forum on Ethics and Integrity, James Nsaba Buturo, has condemned the banning of street preaching.

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) last week announced plans to start prosecuting street preachers with perpetrators facing fines of sh40, 000 or two months imprisonment or both.

Buturo argues that what should be regulated is the manner in which the preachers spread their word, as some of them are seen to go hard on people in taxis. 

In a press conference on Monday morning, Buturo said this is an attack on Christianity in the country because the religion calls for spreading Christianity through preaching outside church. 

The former minister further noted that KCCA has no mandate to outlaw street preaching because the proposed move has not been done with the approval of Parliament. 

"We do not see where they are deriving their mandate. Jesus Christ was a street preacher so now who are these little fellows? If Jesus was around today, those fellows would stop him" Buturo said. 

"Somebody in KCCA has the audacity to say what Jesus Christ was doing then must be stopped. We have got to oppose those individuals" he added. 

The former minister instead called upon the church and government to provide regulations through which the street preachers can undertake their work without inconveniencing the public. 

"Our view is that they should be helped in the methodology they use to preach but not stopping the message that is being preached" Buturo said. 

"If there is any violation, they need to be assisted but not stopped from doing what the traditional churches should be doing but have not been able to do" he added.