ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru has castigated churches for what he termed as allowing politicians to use the pulpit as a platform for lies.
Mr Mucheru made the remarks on Monday in Limuru, Kiambu County, when he met church leaders and youth drawn from the vast county during the launch of the National Council of Churches Youth Fragility Report.
"I can only pose: Where has the church been when some of these falsehoods are being perpetrated, sometimes from the pulpit by these misleaders? For us to have a wholesome youth for a wholesome society, society must endeavor to tell the truth even when it hurts – because the truth shall set you free," said Mr Mucheru.
"The church should be the pillar of truth, the beacon of light that should shine light on these dark falsehoods by false prophets. To a large extent, some churches have not lived up to this expectation," he added.
CS Mucheru says DP Ruto is lying to Kenyans
CS Mucheru reckons that one of the biggest challenges facing modern churches and which affects their independence is the massive donations they receive from the political class. This, he says, makes it hard for them to point out lies propagated by donor politicians.
"The main problem as I see it, is that these churches have been silenced by massive donations from politicians, who have then been gifted with the pulpit to preach the gospel of division and to nudge citizens towards a class war. These Bible waving politicians have especially targeted the youth because they think – wrongly – that youth are gullible and easy to manipulate," said Mr Mucheru.
In the strongly-worded remarks seen as a veiled hit on Deputy President William Ruto, he also lamented that this rhetoric is packaged for the youth, who the CS perceives as vulnerable.
He noted that the youth make up a huge population of voters, saying that government has been investing heavily in sectors that seek to empower them.
He then pointed out initiatives such as Affirmative Action Funds,Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF), have addressed the challenge of youth unemployment through entrepreneurship.
"Through YEDF, we aim to cushion youth-owned businesses against the impact of Covid-19," he said, adding that the Fund has disbursed a total of Sh660 million in loans since the onset of Covid-19.
