Govt clamps down on illegal Churches

This morning at the Gaborone High Court, Judge Terrance Rannowane will hear a case in which Enlightened Christian Gathering Church (ECG) seeks to stop government from closing their church in Botswana. ECG launched an urgent application to allow the church to operate, which was heard this past Sunday but Rannowane threw out the application saying the matter was not urgent. At the church premises in Gaborone West on Sunday, it was business as usual. Church service went on unhindered and it was in fact packed to the rafters. There was no mention of the ongoing case and most members this reporter attempted to speak to were hostile. They were not forthcoming and most asserted that, “no one could touch the man of God and his flock.”

Courting controversy…

The mushrooming of churches in Botswana over the years has raised alarm. The increase in the number of charismatic churches is also boggling. The latter are characterised by loud music, singing and dancing, vigorous preaching, promises of miracles, and exorcising of “devil spirits.” They also preach prosperity, unlike traditional churches that said ‘the meek would inherit the earth’ and evangelised that prosperity would be in heaven. Thousands of Batswana are attracted by the prospect of their problems ending as they are promised miracles in the forms of financial freedom, promotions, successful marriages and anything else that could be said to reflect a happy and stable life. However, these charismatic churches have not been welcomed with open arms by all quarters. Some pastors have been accused of drug dealing, sponging money off locals, power struggles within their churches and failure to submit annual tax returns. Over the years, government has come out strongly against these “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” threatening to deport them for their antics. ECG is in the middle of a storm as it is the latest church to face this hostility.

The big money spinner

The head pastor of ECG in Botswana Pastor Phitshane apparently earns more than 60k monthly. He is said to be living a lavish lifestyle, and has a fancy double storey house in Phakalane. In December he bought his wife a German car worth more than P300, 000. He reportedly also makes a killing from various allowances, from the church, which is operated like a fully-fledged business. As reported in the The Midweek Sun, former minister of labour and home affairs Peter Siele and then Ntlo ya Dikgosi deputy chairperson Kgosi Lotlamoreng II started a campaign to curtail foreign pastors in 2010 and 2011 over concerns that they are defrauding Batswana of their hard-earned money. In an archived interview with The Midweek Sun dated 2013, director of immigration Mabuse Pule stopped short of proclaiming that government would not tolerate foreign pastors. “They come here to abuse our people and push personal agendas. The pastors group themselves and see our own pastors as outcasts in their own country,” he said.

“Touch not the anointed”

Followers of prestigious men of God such as Prophet Bushiri are known to get their knickers in a knot and throw their toys out of the cot whenever their leader is criticised. They have coined the phrase “in our family we don’t stress,” an allusion that the “challenges” they face are mere obstacles and will be overcome. In fact, they claim that the man of God is a figure not to be messed with and often throw around curses. A former member of a charismatic church who has since returned to the apolostic church he worshipped at points out that subconsciously, they know that they are wrong. “Their level of faith is delusional. They don’t want to face the truth and cursing and threatening people is their way. I had a problem with cursing other people. As people we don’t perceive faith the same and as a child of God, you should accept this and not judge or condemn the next person because they don’t share your outlook.” Doing nothing for community development The other bone of contention with charismatic churches is how they do little for community upliftment. Most churches are institutions that are operated within prescribed laws and do their part for the communities they operate in, as with the Roman Catholic Church. The ZCC recently opened a clinic and has over the years donated to the less privileged in local communities. The church also has scholarships.

Other high profile pastors who have been shown the door:

• Last year, Prophet Isaiah Brian Sovi of the Imperial City Church was bundled off and shown the door amidst investigations of dubious financial transactions and maladministration. 
• * In 2016 government deported fundamentalist anti-gay pastor Steven Anderson citing that he expressed “hate speech.” His church, Faithful Word Baptist, was also said to be operating illegally in the country.
• * In 2014 Nigerian Prophet Peter Bollaward who was at the helm of the Glory of the Latter Ministries in Gaborone was deported on February 8 after the ministry of labour and home affairs declared him a ‘prohibited immigrant.’

He was reportedly detained for a few days before his deportation and questioned over the several millions in his ministry’s account and the fleet of expensive cars he drove.

• In 2011, flamboyant Pastor Frances Sakufiwa of Zambia, who ran the New Seasons Ministries and lived in Botswana for 15 years, was deported under a presidential order.  He was surrounded by controversy for his suspicious “prophesies” some, which singled out government and his alleged roving eye.

A few days after he was booted out of the country, a group of women reportedly pleaded with the president to reverse his decision and allow Sakufiwa back into Botswana, claiming he was “highly anointed.”Govt expects proper procedures to be followed

Government has been inundated with many applications for churches to operate here. However, government has expressed concern that some churches do not follow the legal administrative routes, and are at times involved in dubious financial transactions.