*Gov’t Sets Up Committee To Create National Database On Shrines, Churches And Religious Sites - Ahmed Ibrahim*

The Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs has established a working group to compile a national database on shrines, churches, and other religious sites across the country.

The Minister, Hon. Ahmed Ibrahim, disclosed this when he appeared before Parliament’s Government Assurance Committee.

“Honourable chair, the Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs has set up a working group comprising officers from the Chief and Religious Affairs, Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Research, Statistics and Information Management directorates to create the database on shrines and other religious sites in the country,” he stated.

According to Hon. Ibrahim, the exercise will be supported by the various Regional Coordinating Councils and is necessary because the issue of “shrines” is complex and often misunderstood.

“A shrine is not just one thing. Even as you sit here, if I want to come shrine, I need to be given the power... it is not simple,” he explained.

He said the move follows concerns raised about people setting up shrines in communities and presenting them as religion.

“Simply because you go to certain communities, somebody will come there and say he has a shrine and maybe going to be doing things. That is another form of religion but we are in charge of religion.”[is]

The Minister noted that the question was misconstrued by some as “jovia,” but stressed it is a “very sensitive, delicate and important question.”

Hon. Ibrahim said a multisectoral committee with expertise has been put in place because defining a shrine requires a firm foundation.

“So a shrine can be a pen. It can be a photo, a picture. It can be anything. And these are spiritual issues. The lawyers may disagree with you,” he told the Committee.

He added: “We need to have a very firm foundation as to what a shrine is. Are we believing that it is only where a shrine that is house or a shrine that is the asset of the town.”

The Minister said the database will cover churches, traditional African religion, and shrines, and will help government have proper records and oversight of religious sites in the country.

Report filed by PKB