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BUJUMBURA. — Burundi’s lower house of parliament has passed a Bill intended to curb the country’s “proliferation of churches”.
A government survey last year found there were 557 denominations practising in the small Central African state.
New regulations would require churches to have at least 500 members and a proper building.
Evangelical churches mushroomed during and after the long ethnic-based civil war, which ended in 2005 after some 300 000 people had died.
The BBC correspondent Prime Ndikumagenge speaking from the capital Bujumbura yesterday said the bill received the unanimous support of members of parliament in the National Assembly and is unlikely to face much opposition in the Senate.
If no changes are made to the draft legislation, it is expected to be signed by the president within 30 days or sent back to parliament for a second reading.
Once signed into law, churches would have a year to comply with the new regulations.
For a foreign church to be allowed to register, it would have to show that it has 1 000 followers.
Ndikumagenge says it is common to see makeshift tents where worshippers gather by the roadside on Sundays.
“Anyone can set themselves up as a preacher and there have been a few scandals over the years involving some of the smaller churches”, said Ndikumagenge.
Some preachers have been accused of manipulating or abusing their followers.
One reported case involved a preacher who said barren women wanting to conceive should sleep with him.
Most of Burundi’s 9 million inhabitants are Christian and some also follow traditional beliefs.
Burundi’s president Pierre Nkurunziza is a born-again Christian and his wife is a preacher in an evangelical church. — BBC/HR.
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