Ugandan Pentecostals or Evangelicals (or Balokole as they are mostly referred to) have made significant gains in the past 10 years, adding more people than any other religion and cementing their position among the most popular religions in Uganda.
Although final results from the National population and housing Census 2024 indicated that eight in 10 Ugandans are Christians, an analysis by The Pearl Times indicates that the Pentecostals or Evangelicals (Balokole) gained more members as the two dominant religious affiliations registered a drop in their numbers.
Let us explain. Religions or religious affiliations were categorized in nine groups. These included: Roman Catholic, Anglican or Church of Uganda, Pentecostals or Evangelicals, Moslems and Seventh Day Adventist. Others were: Orthodox, Traditional, those with No Religion and ‘Others.’
Between 2014 and 2024, the Pentecostals or Evangelicals (also popularly referred to as Balokole) registered the biggest increase in number of belivers joining this religious affiliation.
The percentage of Ugandans identifying as Evangelicals or Pentecostals (Balokole) rose from 11.1 per cent in 2014 to 14.7 per cent. This means that in 10 years, the Balokole group grew by 3.6 per cent.
But this growth rate was not enough to make the Pentecostals or Evangelicals (Balokole) the biggest religious group in Uganda.
The Evangelicals or Pentecostals (Balokole) are the third biggest religion in Uganda. They are way behind the Roman Catholic religion and the Anglicans (Church of Uganda). Both the Roman Catholic and Anglican religions registered a total decrease of 3.9 per cent in their numbers.
Up to 37.4 per cent or Ugandans identify as Roman Catholic Christians. But their number reduced by nearly two percentage points (1.9 per cent to be exact) from 39.3 per cent in 2014, according to figures seen by The Pearl Times.
Also losing two percentage points between 2014 and 2024 was the Anglican or Church of Uganda religion. The number of Ugandans identifying as Anglican Christians dropped from 32 per cent of the total population of Uganda in 2014 to 30 per cent this year.
Islam is the fourth biggest religion in Uganda after Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Pentecostals or Evangelicals (Balokole).
The number of Moslems dropped slightly — by only 0.1 per cent — from 3.7 per cent to 3.6 per cent in the past 10 years between 2014 and 2024.
Also gaining some new believers in their fold apart from the Balokole were the Seventh Day Adventists whose membership increased by 0.4 per cent, that is from 1.7 per cent in 2014 to 2.1 per cent in 2024.
The rest of the religious groups did not register any increments to their membership in the past decade.
Ugandans identifying as having no religion remained at 0.2 per cent, those subscribing to the traditional religion at 0.1 per cent – tying with those identifying as Orthodox. Those grouped as ‘others’ remained at 1.7 per cent in the past 10 years.
Back to Balokole (Pentecostals or Evangelicals), President Museveni once revealed that some officials wanted him to ban their religion. Yet the Balokole have in recent years turned into a key voting block for Museveni, endorsing him and celebrating his victory. (See Details Here).
But the Balokole have been criticized for their ‘controversial teachings’ like Apostle Grace Lubega linking Baganda names Ndawula, Nandawula to sudden disease, death spirits or claims like one prophet chilling with Jesus on the expressway or a pastor holding a meeting with God for two hours. (Read Stories Here, There and Over There).
Meanwhile, you can see Uganda’s biggest tribes and how many people each has as well as the biggest and smallest cities by number of people, plus the most and least populous sub regions of Uganda Here, There and Over There.
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