LBA: Life in Uganda - Relgious Leaders

Imam

The Muslim faith is not widely spread in Manafwa District – you may find just five mosques in a whole sub county. The role of an Imam is the leader of the Mosque, calling for and leading the prayers, taking care of the mosque, praying for the sick and deceased (dhuah), and reporting to the Moslem council at District level, amongst other duties.

An Imam has to carry out other personal duties as well such as farming or running businesses so as to earn a living for himself, as he cannot live on the little amount collected at Friday prayers. In Manafwa, the Mosque collection, although varying from week to week, depending on the number of attendants, can be around 3,000/= (approximately £1.50) every Friday. On Idd, for example, the amount may increase to 35,000/= (approximately £14), depending on the size of the mosque although this money has to be shared by the Imam, Mosque Council, and also used for attending to vulnerable persons like the sick, and helpless etc.

Imams normally have a big family with at least 2 wives and ten children. They generally live fair lives as they dedicate much of their time to God/Allah’s work and have little time to toil for the good of their families.

Uthman Namakwa, an Imam at Butiru Mosque, remarked that “Us Imams have little time to cater for our families and for the betterment of our own lives as we have little free time – you may be going to garden and all of a sudden you are called to attend a burial ceremony to conduct prayers for the dead.”

Pastors
Butiru Sub County has a large population of “born-agains” who are also known as “the saved”. A Pastor is the shepherd of the flock of God and has duties such as conducting prayers, spiritual awareness about the bible, moral rehabilitation and generally carrying out God’s ministry work.

Pastor Martin Okoth (a Pastor at Butiru Assemblies of God Church) reported that he gets 80,000/= (approximately £33) per month from the mother church in Kampala. He carries out simple farming to enhance his living although this is subsistence farming. He also gets about one third of Sunday’s church collection, which is usually approximately 2,000/= (approximately 80p) to cater for his living.

Reverends and Priests
The Anglican and Catholic Churches’ congregations account for approximately two thirds of the total population in Manafwa District, and are the most widely spread in the District.

A Reverend is the head of the Protestant church, whose role is to conduct prayers, head the church, lead followers on morals and good conduct etc. A Reverend stays at the church with his family and earns a living from church collections, farming, offertories from the church and community, and funds from the Anglican diocese in Mbale. A Reverend is a highly respected figure in the community although he is faced with challenges such as oppositions from other religions, limited time to attend to his family, strong challenges from cultural institutions such as circumcision, and cultural norms like early marriages.

A Priest has a similar role to a Reverend although he heads a Catholic Church. Father John Baptist Masayi is a Priest at Butiru Catholic Church at Busumbu. His duties include heading the church and reporting to the diocese, conducting Sunday prayers, managing church matters and administration, preaching to followers including new converts and baptising them, amongst other duties. When contacted, Father Masayi revealed that he makes a living from offertories at the church, gifts, his own business, cultivating crops for food, and funds received from Tororo Diocese.

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