The latest decision by the Rwandan government to close churches and mosques that do not meet the requirements was announced in 2024.
The National Governance Board (RGB), revealed that in 2024, it conducted a special inspection of faith-based organizations (churches and mosques) to check compliance with the law and governance.
The inspection revealed problems including heretical teachings, deception aimed at depriving people of their property, lack of transparency, fraud and mismanagement of resources, conflicts over leadership, and buildings that did not comply with the provisions of the law.
The closure of churches and mosques did not mean that people were prohibited from praying, but rather that they were required to continue their assembly activities in a manner that met the requirements.
This has allowed some who have not yet been able to meet the requirements to continue gathering in churches, considering ways to gather using technology.
Currently, there are those who are left to gather using Zoom, Google Meeting, YouTube, Tik Tok and other technologies, which help them gather as they used to in churches.
In this transfer of meetings to technology, it is also something to be careful about because it has now included those who claim to do God’s work but actually intend to steal.
Pastor Dany Mutangana, from the United Christian Family Initiative, which unites Christians from different churches with the goal of praying for the country and the church, says that although churches are closed, it has not stopped those who wanted to truly pray and continue the work of God.
He said, “For people who really wanted to pray, it continued and it didn’t harm anything, but when you put it in terms of numbers, not everyone has modern phones, there are people who don’t have them and when you meet, all kinds of people come together. But when you get to social media, there are those who have access to the internet and phones, you feel that they are decreasing, because if we used to meet with like 200 people, when we meet on social media, we are like 70, a large part of us has been lost because of working on social media.”
It also comes with sins
This pastor says that praying on social media has become a way for some to commit sins while claiming to be doing God’s work.
He said, “There are also mistakes being made, and we cannot ignore that, because in the case of social media, some are covering up the situation, because there are unknown people who came calling themselves pastors who are not who they are, the country does not know them, there are those who came with other intentions and sometimes make mistakes there.”
He added, “There are those who are hiding, even before when people met in church, the government knew that they met here, but on social media there are those who meet without knowing, who is this person? Where did you ask him? There are also those who may not be in Rwanda. They tell you to bring money so that we can pray for them, that illness you have will be cured, things like that, because there are also those who were imprisoned by the government and really should have been imprisoned, they have also moved to these social media.”
Pastor Mutangana says that even the gatherings have continued as they used to do during regular meetings.
He said, “All the programs as they were done in churches continued on social media, and the assembly is made up of four stages. The first is to start with prayer, they pray for the assembly as it goes, there is a program leader who leads it, then there is a part of singing, worshiping God, and singing those who are assigned to sing, and then there is a time to welcome the one who teaches the word of God.”
He added, “It ends with a stage of prayer and praying for the wishes of different people, then there is a stage of offering and thanking God, thanking God and giving offerings. The assembly ends as it used to end in church.”
Although praying on social media is done, the trust that religious leaders and congregations had has decreased because there are those who claim to be in this role, but do the opposite.
Pastor Mutangana said, “Confidence has been reduced due to many mistakes made by some people who came to claim to be religious when they were not. Many people have lost their strength, because if they met a thief, they would say that all of them are thieves, if they met a liar, they would say that all of them are liars. Confidence has been greatly reduced.”
He added, “Before, pastors were known, the District follows them, now we have these churches in the District, in the Sector, in the Cell and they have counted them, if someone has a place to follow them. Now they have become many, it has become chaotic, everyone who is being born comes calling themselves Pastor, Prophet, Evangelist, you don’t know where they came from. It is necessary for people to come to social media to pray, and to come with the wisdom that God has given them.”
As of November 2025, RGB indicated that 9,171 churches and mosques had been closed for non-compliance with legal provisions and had not yet reopened, but assured that some could be reopened soon provided they meet the requirements.