The death of at least 20 worshippers in Tanzania on Saturday was baffling.
It is most heartbreaking that so many people who had gathered to commune with the Almighty could die in a most tragic manner.
The worshippers, packed into a stadium in Moshi, crushed one another as they rushed to be anointed with blessed oil offered by Pastor Boniface Mwamposa, head of the Arise and Shine Ministry Tanzania.
The self-acclaimed “Apostle” poured what he said was holy oil on the ground and the crowd surged to touch it in the hope of getting cured of sickness.
The prosperity gospel preachers’ amazing capacity to draw crowds cannot be understated.
However, safety and security measures are hardly adhered to on such occasions, exposing the worshippers to danger.
In 2016, a church roof collapsed on worshippers in Uyo, southern Nigeria, killing at least 160 people.
Earlier, in 2014, at least 116 people died when a multistorey guesthouse of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, collapsed.
Most victims were visiting South African followers of the church’s influential founder, TB Joshua.
There is a need for strict adherence to crowd management rules during the prayer sessions. Worship activities, in whichever country, are regulated by the State.
It thus behoves the authorities to ensure that nobody is at risk. It would not be asking for too much to demand that the preaching be realistic and not offer false hope to desperate hordes, probably seeking spiritual compensation for material deprivation, while boosting the preachers’ kitty. Congregants must also resist to be swayed by false preachings.
In the case of the Tanzanian incident, the prayer session is said to have extended into the night, well beyond the authorised hours. That definitely complicated the rescue operations.
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