Apostle Gift Mugisha, the National President and patron of the Generation Pastors Network (GPN), has urged religious leaders to encourage their followers to improve their standards of living, emphasizing that spiritual growth should go hand in hand with economic empowerment.
Mugisha made the remarks on October 15, 2026, while commissioning the offices of the Mukono District Generational Pastors Fellowship SACCO, operating under the Generation Pastors Network in Mukono, along Ssaza Road in Mukono Municipality.
“Our mission is to break the spirit of poverty which has perturbed the Pentecostal church in Uganda over time. It’s time for the born-again Christians to come out of poverty,” Mugisha said.
Addressing pastors at the event, Mugisha called on the church to take a leading role in breaking the longstanding cycle of poverty within Uganda’s Pentecostal communities. He urged religious leaders to support social and economic development programmes aimed at improving the welfare of their congregations and the wider community.
Mugisha donated Shs 15 million to the Generational Pastors Network Mukono SACCO, stressing that pastors should lead by example by engaging in farming, establishing businesses and pursuing income-generating activities rather than relying solely on congregational offerings.
The SACCO, chaired by Apostle Moses Kabanda, the GPN Mukono chairperson and lead pastor at House of Restoration Ministries, has hundreds of members. It aims to provide business loans to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), business expansion, agribusiness and other initiatives designed to improve the economic well-being of church leaders.
Kabanda said the Generation Pastors Network brings together church leaders from different generations, with a shared focus on spiritual growth, economic empowerment and national development.
GPN places significant emphasis on economic empowerment alongside spiritual development, seeking to address poverty among Pentecostal and born-again Christian communities, commonly known as Balokole.
Mugisha urged clergy and believers to move away from a job-seeking mentality and embrace entrepreneurship, encouraging Christians to complement prayer with practical work, financial discipline and financial literacy.
He also revealed plans to establish what he described as Uganda’s first bank for born-again Christians. He called on GPN leaders and members to increase their savings, engage in trade and invest in large-scale agriculture and other business ventures.
According to Mugisha, SACCOs will play a central role in building members’ financial portfolios and could serve as a foundation for the proposed transition towards a larger commercial banking institution.
Pastors Endorse Muhoozi’s 2031 Presidential Bid
The event also featured expressions of support from pastors for General Muhoozi Kainerugaba in the 2031–2036 presidential election cycle. Some pastors signed endorsement books as part of a campaign supporting his anticipated presidential bid.
The exercise was described as part of a nationwide initiative seeking to collect 20 million signatures in support of Kainerugaba, the national chairman of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), who has declared his intention to contest for the presidency in 2031.
The pastors also expressed support for President Yoweri Museveni and the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), citing what they described as the government's contributions to peace, economic development and infrastructure since it came to power in 1986.