The number of Pentecostal churches licensed to conduct marriages in Uganda has risen to 136, after government yesterday confirmed the issuance of licenses to 74 other churches belonging to the denomination, adding to the 62 that were originally licensed.
The Attorney General Fred Ruhindi confirmed the licensing of the 74 churches, saying it gives Ugandans more avenues for officially entering marriage, as well as providing government with more avenues for revenue.
One of the leaders of the Pentecostal denomination in Uganda, Apostle Joseph Sserwadda of Victory Christian Centre, said this is a good development both for the country and its people as well as for Christendom as a whole.
Pastor Sserwadda’s church was one of the earliest Pentecostal churhes to get licensed by government to conduct marriages, alongside others like pastor Robert Kayanja’s Miracle Centre, Pastor Michael Kyazze’s Omega Healing Centre and Pastor Jackson Ssenyonga’s Christian Life Church.
There have long been concerns over the thousands of Pentecostal churches in the country all conducting marriages, yet only 62 churches of the denomination ere legally empowered by the state to do the business. This meant that either the unlicensed churches had to register their marriages under the licensed churches, or that many of the marriages simply remained unrecognised by national law.