‘A den of bandits’: Rwanda shuts thousands of evangelical churches

Grace Room Ministries once filled giant stadiums in Rwanda three times a week before the evangelical organization was shut down by authorities in May.

It is among nearly 10,000 churches that the government says it has closed for failing to comply with a 2018 law regulating places of worship. The legislation introduced strict requirements on health and safety standards, financial disclosures and theological training for preachers.

President Paul Kagame has repeatedly criticised the rapid spread of evangelical churches across the small Great Lakes nation.

“If it were up to me I wouldn’t even reopen a single church,” Kagame said at a news briefing last month.
“In all the development challenges we are dealing with, the wars, our country’s survival — what is the role of these churches? Are they also providing jobs? Many are just thieving… some churches are just a den of bandits,” he added.

Christians make up the vast majority of Rwanda’s population, according to a 2024 census, and many worshippers are now travelling long distances — often at great cost — to find open churches.

Observers say the closures are ultimately about maintaining control.
“The government is saying there can be no rival in terms of influence,” said Louis Gitinywa, a Kigali-based lawyer and political analyst. The ruling party, he added, “bristles when an organization or individual gains influence,” a view echoed by an anonymous government official who spoke to AFP.

‘Deceived’

Under the 2018 law, churches must submit annual action plans explaining how their activities align with “national values,” while all donations must pass through registered bank accounts.

Pastor Sam Rugira, whose two church branches were shut down last year over fire safety violations, said the rules have disproportionately affected newer evangelical churches that have “mushroomed” in recent years.

Kagame has also portrayed churches as a legacy of colonial rule, a period he says Rwanda is still grappling with.
“You have been deceived by the colonizers and you let yourself be deceived,” he said in November.

The closure of Grace Room Ministries stunned many Rwandans. Its leader, Pastor Julienne Kabanda, had been drawing huge crowds to Kigali’s BK Arena before the church’s licence was revoked.

Authorities cited unauthorized evangelical activities and the failure to submit annual activity and financial reports. AFP was unable to reach Kabanda for comment.

‘Open disdain, disgust’

A senior church leader in Kigali, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the president’s “open disdain and disgust” for churches signalled “tough times ahead.”

“It is unfair that even those that fulfilled all requirements are still closed,” the church leader said.

Some analysts link the government’s tough stance to the legacy of the 1994 genocide, in which around 800,000 people — mostly ethnic Tutsis — were killed.

Ismael Buchanan, a political science lecturer at the National University of Rwanda, told AFP that churches can sometimes serve as “a conduit of recruitment” for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu militia formed in exile in the Democratic Republic of Congo by perpetrators of the genocide.

“I agree religion and faith have played a key role in healing Rwandans from the emotional and psychological wounds after the genocide,” Buchanan said. “But it also makes no sense to have a church every two kilometres instead of hospitals and schools.”

Pastor Rugira, however, said the government is “regulating what it doesn’t understand.” He argued authorities should work with churches to identify “bad apples” and help legitimate congregations meet regulatory requirements — particularly around donations, which many rely on to survive.