Church vows to ignore court order

Another religious sect, the Emmanuel Church of God, has vowed to ignore any court order or regulation that compels it to immunise their children against polio. The sect at Botlhapatlou lands in the Kweneng District told a district health team that they would not comply as any form of medication is against their religious convictions. A religious order in Serowe last week refused to cooperate with authorities. Fearing that religious fanatics could put the country at a risk of an outbreak, authorities sought a court order to force them to comply.

Last Friday, Judge Justice Moatlhodi Marumo ordered members of the Apostle Church in Serowe to allow health personnel to immunise their children against polio.

To ensure full compliance, President Festus Mogae has also entered the fray and authorised the Minister of Health, Lesego Motsumi, to draft Extra Ordinary regulation under the Public Health Act of 1971.

The regulations are to be drafted to facilitate vaccination of all children under the age of five resident or visiting Botswana compulsory during the immunisation period. This is not the first time that the Emmanuel Church has frustrated government efforts.

In the early eighties, they refused to cooperate with veterinary officers who had to vaccinate livestock. However, that defiance earned some of the leaders prison sentences.