In Tanzania, the government is asking the church to do something pastors say does not belong to the pulpit: preach the state's tax policy. According to Christianity Today, the Tanzania Revenue Authority enlisted religious leaders, including Christian clergy, in June to use their platforms to encourage their followers to pay taxes, after President Samia Suluhu Hassan signed a new tax bill into law raising income taxes. The revenue authority's commissioner general called paying taxes an "act of worship" that religious leaders should encourage among their congregations.

The request comes at a moment of deep strain between Tanzania's government and its churches. Around 63 percent of Tanzanians identify as Christians, according to a Pew Forum survey, and churches across the country had called before last October's elections for new laws to ensure free and fair voting. When the government jailed opposition leaders who demanded constitutional changes, protesters took to the streets of Dar es Salaam in what was described as the largest protest since the country gained independence from Britain more than 60 years ago.

Simon Patilo, who pastors Dodoma Reformed Baptist Church in the capital, was at home when gunshots broke out across his street on the evening of October 29, 2025. He told Christianity Today that the government shut down the internet for five days, declared curfews, and that police broke into homes and beat unarmed residents. He attended the burials of five residents killed on his street. Security forces shot dead 197 protesters across the country, according to reports cited in the article. "It was a total blackout," Patilo said. "Those days were a valley of death in Tanzania."

Patilo said the protests damaged the relationship between the Tanzanian government and the churches, and changed how many Christians view their government. "Now [we] no longer trust the government like before," he said. "The peace we once enjoyed has broken down. People are in pain. People are mourning. The times have changed."

While Patilo affirmed that citizens have a responsibility to pay taxes, he drew a firm line at the government directing what the church teaches. "The government shouldn't be telling the church what to teach," he said. "As a pastor I can't do that because that is against freedom of religion." Tanzania is not alone in the approach: similar efforts to enlist religious leaders in tax collection have been reported in Ghana, Uganda, and Malawi.

Other pastors report a climate of fear. Faraja Gasto, pastor of Evangelical Holy Pentecostal Church in the Mwanza region, said he avoids promoting government policies from the pulpit, noting that his congregation of about 100 worshipers includes supporters of both the ruling party and opposition parties. "I don't engage in any political party," he said. "I believe that's the best thing for pastors to do now. We can focus on the [gospel]." He acknowledged, however, that many pastors are afraid to speak against the government.

The pressure has gone beyond requests. In June 2025, the government deregistered Glory of Christ Church in Dar es Salaam, pastored by parliament member Josephat Gwajima, after the registrar of societies said Gwajima's sermons violated church registration laws by eroding public trust in the government. More than 2,000 branches of the church closed when police attempted to arrest Gwajima. The government also targeted church leaders who spoke against post-election violence, and in October 2025 police arrested Eleth Mtaita of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania for discouraging his congregations from voting. U.S. Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, criticized the Tanzanian government for intimidating Christian leaders who spoke against President Hassan.

Historian Moh'd Juma Abdalla told Christianity Today that the relationship between government and religious institutions in Tanzania has long been complicated. Tanzania's first president, Julius Kambarage Nyerere, used Christian leaders to promote his 1967 Arusha Declaration and its socialist project, and the government under his leadership used religious festivals and meetings to make policy statements. After socialism fell, church leaders began more freely criticizing government leaders. Patilo, who grew up under both systems, said he never observed armed soldiers during elections until last October. "Now we have a divided country," he said.

Patilo planted Dodoma Reformed Baptist Church in 2019 with seven members. Its membership has since doubled to 14, with about 30 people attending each week. It took three years to register the church with the Ministry of Home Affairs, a delay he said left the congregation in limbo, since pastors can be arrested if their churches are not registered. He fears any church could be shut down, whether it has done right or wrong. "We stay away from politics most of the time now because it's dangerous and there's a lot of risk to pay," he said. "Because nowadays if you speak, you're not sure of who is coming after you."

Still, Patilo said his focus in sermons and church life remains teaching and discipling his congregants to live obedient to the Scriptures. "As a church, we seek to remain neutral but sympathize with those who are crying," he said.

Source: Christianity Today.