Ugandan President Calls on People not to Believe in Cults

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni called on residents of Kanungu in Rukungiri District and all the people of Uganda to reject and stop believing in prophets of doom-cults who tell lies about the end of the world.

Museveni made the remarks after laying a wreath on the mass grave of the followers of a Ugandan doomsday cult on Saturday, according to a press release from the President's Office.

"The cult leaders who were misleading them using religion were teaching a message very contrary to the message of the government of National Resistance Movement which stresses continuity, development and uplifting of standards," the president was quoted as saying.

A total of 530 believers of the cult, the Movement for Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, were burnt to death in Kanungu on March 17. Since then mass graves were discovered in the properties of the cult leaders, bringing the total number of death to over 1,000.

Museveni said the government will continue to investigate those individuals and groups who mislead the population using religion.

"The government is going to be more vigilant about religious groups especially those which preach messages of doom," he said.

In the past, the president said, the government did not like to interfere in the activities of religious organizations. But now, something must be done since some of these organizations interfere with society, for instance, by making people sell their property, he stressed.





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