Churches up in arms against State regulation
The Senate Ad hoc Committee investigating the Shakahola deaths Chairperson Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana during the session at Parliament buildings on June 9, 2023.
Religious leaders have strongly protested against the proposed regulation of their activities by the government and instead called for self-regulation as a strategy for dealing with the proliferation of cults.
The religious leaders drawn from the National Council Churches of Kenya (NCCK), Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK), and the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) have also distanced themselves from the Shakahola massacre that has claimed 251 people so far.
Making their presentations before the Senate Adhoc Committee investigating the Shakahola deaths, the men of the cloth also dismissed a proposal that religious leaders should possess academic qualifications before they start a church.
“It is a bad idea that religious leaders should be required to have any form of academic qualification. We urge that each of these religions should be built on tenets and doctrines that guide their activities. There are quite a number of religious leaders born to spread the word of God, just like leaders are born,” KCCB General Secretariat representative Fr Ferdinand Lugonzo said.
The Committee Chair, who is also the Tana River Senator, Danson Mungatana put the leaders to task on why they are against academic qualifications for preachers, yet the Catholic Church itself takes its priests through a rigorous formation process.
In response, Fr Lugonzo argued that having academic papers will not necessarily stop religious leaders from engaging in activities like those of Paul Mackenzie and pointed out that even Lucifer was an intelligent angel.
The leaders also scoffed at the idea of copying the neighbouring countries like Rwanda where religion has been regulated. NCCK General Secretary Canon Chris Kinyanjui said imposing laws on them is unconstitutional since it infringes the freedom of worship.
