‘Bishop’ David Livingstone Kiganda, the proprietor of Christianity Focus Ministries, has recently been in the eye of the storm for all the wrong reasons.
He has started a silent strike demanding that the government re-opens churches that were closed as part of efforts to curb the spread of Coronavirus.
Attired in a sack-like T-shirt with the slogan: I cannot breathe when God’s house is still locked emblazoned it, ‘Bishop’ Kiganda’s pictures have been making rounds online with demands that the government opens Churches to allow Christian faithful to pray.
He referenced the verse from the book of Esther.
‘Bishop’ Kiganda must not be allowed to mislead the Christian faithful, just like his contemporary Pastor Anthony Yiga of the Revival Church Kawaala did at the onset of the #Covid-19 pandemic.
If the government was to follow ‘Bishop’ Kiganda’s sentimental demand to open churches, what would be the justification to still have schools closed?
Suffice to note that over 15 million students face the risk of potentially forfeiting their academic years as education institutions are set to remain closed to allow the government battle the spread of the deadly Coronavirus flu.
But again, [‘Bishop’ Kiganda has not thought of any Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that churches will follow if they were to be opened in the middle of the #Covid-19 pandemic.
And, it would have been wise of ‘Bishop’ Kiganda to ask himself how many churches can afford putting in places foolproof SOPs like authentic temperature testing guns, foot-pedalled hand washing facilities and masks for all faithful.
The government has correctly advised that churches should temporarily embrace online sermons.
It should be noted that countries that hid under religious fanaticism and did not take the #Covid-19 serious have, unfortunately, paid dearly.
Fallen Burundi President Pierre Nkuruzinza ignored all World Health Organisation (WHO) protocols and instead, brazenly, declared that God had cleared Burundi of #Covid-19. It was a fatal gamble.
Though the government officially declared that Mr Nkuruzinza died of cardiac arrest, there are credible reports that he succumbed to #Covid-19.
To further lay credence to suspicion that Mr Nkuruzinza succumbed to the virus is the fact that the wife-Denise Nkuruzinza, tested #Covid-19 positive and was only saved by receiving early treatment from a high-end facility in Nairobi.
Examples of religious sentimentalism undermining the fight against #~Covid-19 are replete.
In Brazil, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro this week tested positive, after repeatedly trivialising the pandemic and flouting WHO protocols, even as Brazil became the second-worst hit country after the United States, with more than 65,000 deaths and 1.6 million confirmed cases.
Therefore, ‘Bishop’ Kiganda must not take the lives of Ugandans for a ride. Churches, just like education institutions, should remain closed until authorities like the World Health Organisation (WHO) deem it fit for them to open.
It smirks of greed and opportunism for Bishop Kiganda to demand that Churches be allowed to open well-knowing that it is difficult for them to enforce critical life-saving health protocols like maintaining social distancing.
