In Rwanda, more than 5,600 places of worship have been closed by the authorities in recent weeks for failure to comply with standards imposed in a 2018 law. Hygiene, safety and qualifications standards for preachers are all new criteria intended, according to the Rwandan governance office, to ensure the safety of the faithful. In the capital Kigali, the latter hope that the churches and mosques concerned will soon reopen.
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With our correspondent in Kigali, Lucie Mouillaud
A red cordon closes the entrance to the beginnings of a Pentecostal church in the Kinamba district of Kigali, capital of RwandaAlone, sitting in the gardens, Jacqueline Mukabatsinda contemplates the building emptied of all its faithful.
” The church is closed. Usually today, women meet, so I didn’t feel like staying home that day. I wasn’t feeling well, I wanted to come, but just by arriving in the gardens, I felt soothed “.
Renovation work made mandatory
To reopen, the church must undertake a lot of work: septic tank, water supply, soundproofing. But the choir member remains hopeful.
” We can’t be happy if we can’t pray. It’s sad, but we do everything we can to get back to God’s house and pray. “.
Hopes of a rapid reopening remain
A few kilometres away, in a roadside mosque, meetings are taking place to prepare for the renovations. Installation of a lightning rod or a paved path to the building. Mustafa Musafiri was present at the site’s closure.
“The mosque closed on Friday. It was morning, our prayer day, and we were unable to pray, so we were forced to leave at closing time. But thanks to God, we have hope of reopening, and we will reopen after the work we were ordered to do.”
In the meantime, the faithful plans to go to another mosque, several kilometers away, this Friday. A journey for which he is already beginning to study the cost.
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