A draft policy and a bill to govern the conduct of religious activities in the country have been met with a chorus of rejection from Christian and Muslim leaders.
The Draft Religious Organisations Policy, 2024 and Draft Religious Organisations Bill, 2024, which are set to provide a framework for the regulation of religious organisations, in a bid to combat religious extremism and the abuse of the freedom of religion, have been termed as “anti-Christ”.
In a press conference on Wednesday, the Church and Clergy Association of Kenya (CCAK) asked President William Ruto to intervene and allow religious groups to give their views on the matter.
“The Constitution is clear that state and religion shall be separate. We wonder why the government is keen on regulating religious institutions while introducing punitive fines and jail terms,” Bishop Hudson Ndeda, the CCAK national chairperson, said.
According to CCAK, the government is seeking to crack down on online preaching by targeting Christian television networks.
“We strongly reject the proposals. We know that the same punitive fines and jail terms proposed in the Bill are the same ones introduced in the Computer and Cybercrime Act. The mention of some umbrella body and formation of a commission in the Bill is suspect and discriminative and goes against our freedom of association. We don’t subscribe to them and they do not represent our views in any way,” Bishop Ndeda added.
CCAK secretary-general Bishop Jones Ochieng said that while the government is keen on stopping the Shakahola massacre from repeating itself, targeting all the religious organisations because of a single matter would undermine the good relationship that has been there between the government and such organisations.
According to the government, the proposals in the draft bill were picked from the Presidential Taskforce on the Review of the Legal and Regulatory Framework Governing Religious Organisations in the country, which was chaired by Rev Mutava Musyimi.
It comes against the backdrop of the Shakahola massacre, which claimed the lives of over 500 innocent people who were lured into the dragnet by a self-proclaimed pastor.
Church and Clergy Association of Kenya (CCAK) National Chairman, Bishop Hudson Ndeda (third left), speaks to the media in Nairobi on October 29, 2025.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
The proposals have also been rejected by other Christian and Muslim religious groups, who claim that the government was seeking to control them.
The Deliverance Church in Kenya, the Pentecostal Church of Kenya and Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem), among other religious groups, have expressed their disappointment with the proposed legislation, saying it does not reflect the views which they presented to the taskforce.
According to Supkem national chairperson Hassan Ole Naado, the draft policy creates a false impression that Kenya does not have in place a mechanism for the resolution of disputes relating to religious organisations.
“The Supreme Council notes with great concern that the Religious Affairs Commission established under Clause 6 of the Bill has immense powers over the very sensitive matters of religion, yet the said Commission is certainly not among the Commissions and Independent Offices established under Article 248(2) of the Constitution,” Mr Ole Naado said.
It is the view of Supkem that Article 249 of the Constitution is clear on the bodies and independent institutions which should govern religious groups in the country.
Supkem National Chairperson Al-Haji Hassan Ole Naado.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Supkem has also dismissed the proposal to have the commission determine the term limits of leaders serving in religious organisations in the country.
“So, with the Religious Affairs Commission not enjoying the independence contemplated under Article 249, the Supreme Council finds this commission too exposed and vulnerable for it to be conferred with the serious and sensitive matter of registering, regulating and oversighting religious organisations. Hence, absent of any constitutional guarantees, we don’t need such an exposed and vulnerable religious affairs commission.”
Bishop Dr Geoffrey Njuguna of Deliverance Church of Kenya said the bill introduces government oversight in religious organisations, hence seeking to treat them like government-funded departments or parastatals.
Curtail activities of churches
“It infringes on the constitutional right to freedom of religion and the principle that Kenya shall have no state religion. Furthermore, the involvement of four government officials as commissioners in the nine-member Religious Affairs Commission undermines the concept of self-regulation. Churches already operate under individual constitutions with clear policy guidelines,” the church said.
The Pentecostal Church of Kenya, on its part, says the bill will curtail the activities of many of the small churches in the country. Pastors Habil Olembo and Peter Manyuri, among others, termed the proposed Bill as “anti-Christ”.
“This Bill, specifically when it comes to pastors and other church leaders, has issues. That when a pastor or a church leader takes money from a believer, he is jailed and fine. If the believer has given Sh100 or Sh1, 000 in offering, and you later fine the pastor Sh5 million... this is a how the anti-Christ is entering the church in the country,” Mr Manyuri said.
The draft bill has highlighted some of the areas that the government will implement to prevent Kenyans from falling into the traps of people masquerading as pastors or religious leaders with harmful religious practices, and those who are taking advantage of unsuspecting Kenyans with the intention of extorting them.
Part VII of the draft bill, which outlines the offences, says that a religious institution shall not engage in any political activity in order to gain political power or organise a debate to support any political party or political candidate.
“A religious institution that contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding fSh500,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both,” the proposal says.
On harmful religious practices, the draft bill says that “a person shall not coerce or intimidate another person to engage in any religious practice that is harmful to the health or detrimental to safety or endangers the life of the other person”.
Locals from Shakahola Centre help dig up graves at Shakaola forest part of the 800 acres linked with cult leader Paul Mackenzie of Good News International Church on June 6, 2023.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
“A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Sh5 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 20 years or to both,” the proposals say, stating penalties that await those who would go against it.
If the proposed bill sails through the remaining processes, it will crack down on the religious leaders who have been coercing Kenyans into religion or some beliefs against their wishes.
The draft bill states that a person shall not use force, threats, intimidation, fraud or violence to coerce another person into believing or not believing in a religion or belief, recruit a member of a religious organisation, or prevent a member from exiting a religious organisation.
“A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Sh1 million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.”
However, the bill states that it will not be an offence for a parent or legal guardian of a child to determine the religious upbringing of a child and provide religious direction to the child.
Additionally, the bill states that a religious leader who by means of any false and fraudulent representation, tricks or schemes as to healing, miracles, blessings or prayers, extorts or fraudulently obtains any financial gain or material benefit from any person or induces the person to deliver money or property to the religious leader commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Sh5 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to both.
Morticians carry the remains of a person exhumed at Kwa Bi Nzaro village within the vast Chakama Ranch in Kilifi County on August 28, 2025 as part of investigations into a suspected cult.
Photo credit: Brian Charo | Nation Media Group
“Any person who, under the guise of religion, disparages any divergent religious belief of another person and does anything that causes harm to or threatens the safety, health or life of that other person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Sh5 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 20 years or to both.”
Also, the proposed legislation has created a commission to be referred to as the Religious Affairs Commission, which will be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal.
The commission will be in charge of registering religious organisations, umbrella religious organisations and religious associations in the country.
