Tension is brewing among Pentecostal followers in the Lango sub-region, protesting the move by the Pentecostal Assemblies of God Uganda Limited to takeover their property.
This stems from the recent High Court ruling that could see hundreds of followers of the defunct Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) Lira Limited being evicted from their places of worship, which has sparked serious protest among the born-again community.
On March 31, 2023, Justice Musa Ssekaana made a ruling in favor of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) Uganda Limited, giving them power to evict the Christians from the churches, land, and other properties that they said were acquired through their sweat.
The ruling follows a property battle that had been in court for years between PAG Uganda Ltd., Bishop Joel Mukalo, and PAG Lira Limited jointly.
Hundreds of Christians have expressed concern, saying the ruling Justice Ssekaana made against PAG Lira Ltd which is a non-existing entity would affect believers who are not part of the case.
PAG Lira Limited broke away from PAG Uganda Limited following a leadership disagreement between then-Bishop Mukalo and top leaders at PAG headquarters.
“PAG Lira Limited is a non-existing entity that doesn’t own any property, and Bishop Joel Mukalo, whom they have dragged into the case, also doesn’t own anything, but all that they are claiming belongs to us, the Christians,” Nelson Ojok, one of the born-again faithful, said.
Col. Francis Ongia, who is among the first followers of the born-again faith in Lira City, said PAG Uganda Limited never owned any property in Lira since it did not contribute any money towards the construction of churches.
He said when he first came to Lira in 1989 as a government worker, he was already a born-again Christian, but at that time, there were no born-again churches where he could pray.
He explained that since there were no born-again churches, he joined a group of people who used to pray from a classroom at VH Public School, adding that it was those people that mobilized the money that was used to build Lira Pentecostal Church.
“Some of us who were praying from VH Public School raised the money that was used for building Lira Pentecostal Church without any support or donation coming from those who are now claiming ownership,” Col. Ongia said.
He added that it becomes so disappointing for somebody who never contributed anything towards the church’s construction to come and evict poor Christians who sold their chickens or goats and used the money to build a church where they could worship the Lord.
“We are not supposed to fight over structures because we are not going with them to heaven, but the poor people who sold their chickens to build these churches should be left to continue praying in peace,” he said.
Semmy Alele, also a born-again Christian at Lira Pentecostal Church, said for nearly 30 years she has been praying there, but she has never witnessed any support coming from Kampala to support the church project.
She added that all the resources used in the construction of these churches and all the branches they have in Lira came from Christians, not from Kampala.
Christians file a case against PAG Ltd.
A highly placed source in the church who preferred to remain anonymous said that in 2022, Christians who offered land on which the churches were built discovered that PAG Uganda Limited had listed their properties among theirs.
PAG Uganda Limited, he said, claimed such properties were in the possession of Joel Mukalo and another deregistered company called PAG Lira Limited.
Accordingly, a meeting was convened, and Christians nominated Julius Peter Oting, Sam Ojok, Milton Okello, Charles Ocuma, and Ogei Simon Peter to file a case on their behalf against PAG Uganda Limited.
The case has been proceeding; however, to their shock, a court order has been issued that all their properties, including churches across Lango Sub Region, belong to PAG Uganda Ltd.
Pastor Erick Etam said hundreds of Christians who will be affected were also not parties to the case where the judge issued the order against Joel Mukalo and the deregistered PAG Lira Ltd.
He said they were dissatisfied with the ruling because they expected the judge to come on the ground to ascertain the rightful owners of these properties.
Etam noted that they also discovered that some people were being ferried from Kampala to come and effect the eviction, yet they were not given any notice and were not parties to the case where the order of eviction is arising.
7,774 total views
The judge did the right thing to me because I believe that those land titles are with the name p. a . g uganda
The truth is, PAG Uganda limited does not own any property in in this region, have u ever hard of any leader from the so call PAG Uganda giving money to support any construction of any church building in the North…….rather making the masses poor with the almost weekly contributions in the churches every Sundays……who to feed who…..our eyes have opened!!!!!
The church people are right, because they are already have their land title.so let them waste time in court 🙄