Churches and religious institutions publicly opposing new Tanzanian constitution to be closed, says government

Tanzania’s Minister of Home Affairs, Mathias Chikawe, has announced that churches and religious institutions that publicly oppose the country’s new constitution will be deregistered, beginning from 20 April. Tanzanian Christians oppose a bill that would introduce Kadhi (Islamic) courts across the country’s mainland, in the new constitution.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam on 14 April, Mr Chikawe announced that institutions that do not follow legal requirements will face being deleted from the register of institutions. "Some of the requirements include to submit the annual audited accounts to the register of the social and religious institutions and to pay the annual fee," he said.

However, according to Tanzania Christian leader “Peter”, it is public opposition to the constitution that is the driving force behind the Minister’s move. Angered by Tanzanian Christian leaders who have told their followers to vote against the Kadhi bill in the upcoming referendum, Mr Chikawe said: “It is true that the leaders of these institutions have the right to participate in political affairs as individuals, but it is illegal to use their leadership to convince their believers to carry out their political preferences.” Keep reading

Such action on the part of the Tanzanian government is a gross violation of the human rights of Tanzanian Christians and their religious freedom. The establishment of separate court system for Muslims is clearly a stepping stone to the imposition of sharia upon all Tanzanians. Christians throughout the world should join together in condemning this action and those in democratic countries should call upon their governments to denounce this serious human rights violation by the Tanzanian government.