KAYANZA November 15th (ABP) – The Minister of the Interior, Community Development and Public Security, Mr. Gervais Ndirakobuca, met on Friday November 12, in the capital of Kayanza province (northern Burundi), officials of religious denominations and provincial governors in order to assess the level of implementation of the clauses and remind them of the obligations to which religious denominations are held, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
Mr. Gervais Ndirakobuca said that the meeting is part of the assessment of the level of implementation of the clauses of the meeting held last March in Bugarama for leaders of churches and religious denominations and a reminder of their obligations with a view to compliance with the country’s laws and regulations.
Minister Ndirakobuca said that out of more than 900 churches registered with the ministry, 439 exercise in places that are not suitable while 560 others are agglutinated and therefore do not respect the distance that should separate them. 164 others are not approved without losing sight of certain churches which either worship in schools or in reception halls or hotels.
Here, he insisted that all worship must be done in strict compliance with the law governing churches and religious denominations in Burundi. He recalled that the measure prohibiting the organization of prayer services during working hours or at night remains irreversible. But those who wish, he promised, can organize worship services either in the morning before work hours or in the evening after work. Mr. Ndirakobuca clarified that only worship related to deaths is allowed on working days and hours.
The same minister responsible for the interior has summoned the representatives of the churches and religious denominations present in the meeting to re-register their churches before the next such meeting is held. To that end, he called them to mobilize their faithful around the work to contribute to the development of the country. He also called for their active involvement in strengthening peace and security.
In his opening remarks, the governor of Kayanza province, Colonel Rémy Cishahayo, indicated that the province is calm. “Even the gang of criminals which spread terror in the natural forest of Kibira has just been dismantled,” he continued, noting that the population is usually engaged in development activities.
Governor Cishahayo asked those in charge of religious denominations to mobilize their faithful around the development work so that they can make their contribution to the building of the country.
Shortly before that meeting, the Minister of the Interior, Community Development and Public Security opened a retreat for young people from movements affiliated with political parties on the promotion of entrepreneurship and the contribution to strengthening peace and security.