Tempers cool on divisive Churches� Bill

Among the raft of proposed amendments to the Churches’ Act is a hotly debated proposal to raise the number of people required for the registration of a religious organisation from ten to 250. Government says the change is to prevent the proliferation of unscrupulous “prophets”, but opponents say the clause is paternalistic and seeks to dictate to the faithful.

Debating the motion during a less dramatic session of Parliament, Gaborone Bonnington South MP, Ndaba Gaolathe, said the bill had touched at the fibre of who Batswana are as a people.