Tanzanian Pastors Push Back as Tax Authority Asks Pulpits to Promote Paying Taxes
A year after deadly election protests, pastors in Dodoma and Mwanza told Christianity Today they will not let the government set what churches teach.
See where this is ›DODOMA, Tanzania —
Pastors in Tanzania say a government push to have religious leaders promote tax payment from the pulpit has deepened distrust between churches and the state, Christianity Today reported Nov. 5 in a story by Emmanuel Nwachukwu.
See where this is ›In June, the Tanzania Revenue Authority enlisted religious leaders, including Christian clergy, to urge their followers to pay taxes, after President Samia Suluhu Hassan signed a tax bill that raised income taxes, the magazine reported. The authority's commissioner general called paying taxes an “act of worship” that religious leaders should encourage, according to the report.
Pastor Simon Patilo of Dodoma Reformed Baptist Church in Dodoma, the capital, said he affirms citizens' duty to pay taxes but objects to the state shaping sermons. “The government shouldn't be telling the church what to teach,” he told the magazine. His church, started in 2019 with seven members, now has about 30 weekly attendees, and its registration with the Ministry of Home Affairs took three years.
“We stay away from politics most of the time now because it's dangerous and there's a lot of risk to pay,” Patilo said. Faraja Gasto, pastor of Evangelical Holy Pentecostal Church in Mwanza Region, said he does not promote government policies from the pulpit and acknowledged that many pastors are afraid to speak against the government.
The tension follows protests over the October 2025 election, in which security forces shot dead 197 protesters, according to a BBC figure cited by Christianity Today, and the internet was shut down for five days. In June 2025, authorities deregistered Glory of Christ Church in Dar es Salaam, led by lawmaker and pastor Josephat Gwajima, and in October 2025 police arrested Eleth Mtaita, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, for discouraging his congregation from voting, the magazine reported.
Christianity Today said similar tax campaigns through religious leaders have been tried in Ghana, Uganda and Malawi. The report did not include a response from the Tanzanian government or the revenue authority, and it did not say whether the campaign will continue.
