Worship services halted on Zanzibar Island

Worship services halted on Zanzibar Island

NAIROBI, Kenya — Pastor Daniel Kwileba Kwiyeya was ordered to stop the church service he was leading on Tanzania’s semi-autonomous Zanzibar Island in May after a plainclothes police officer and local officials arrived.

Kwiyeya and his daughter were taken into custody, a church member said. No charges were made against the pastor and his daughter and they were released later that day.

The incident followed an order to close the church after Muslim sheikhs from a nearby mosque complained that services on Sundays and weeknights were too loud — though the congregation does not use loudspeakers like the neighboring mosque.

In March another church in Zanzibar closed when police destroyed their meeting place, and in January a church was bulldozed to make way for a state university. (MS)