The Church and Clergy Association of Kenya (CCAK) has protested what it terms a biased plan by the government to hastily pass the proposed Religious Organisations Policy, 2024 and the draft Religious Organisations Bill, 2024.
Through its national chairperson, Bishop Hudson Deda, the association expressed its disappointment, saying the government failed to consider the views of church leaders that were presented for incorporation into the final draft policy before it was released for public participation.
In a statement dated December 12, the association said it was caught unawares by the notice from the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Musalia Mudavadi calling for public participation on the drafted Bill, which seeks to guide the country on matters relating to religious operations.
“We appreciate that public participation is rooted in our Constitution and that the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary is attempting to comply to that extent. However, the church and clergy in Kenya are apprehensive about the timing and the haste with which the public participation is being rolled out,” Bishop Deda said.
Similarly, the association said that while the last meeting of the Joint Umbrella Body committee, which was attended by Mr Mudavadi, resolved to meet the attorney-general at a later date, the meeting has not taken place, raising questions over the government’s intentions.
The association also said its attempts to reach the Principal Secretary for the State Department for National Coordination, Ahmed Abdisalan Ibrahim, have not been successful.
“To our shock, we saw the previous invitation for public participation, which we opposed. We reached out to Hon Ahmed, who promised that once the views were received, we would have another meeting to review them together. Unfortunately, we have been avoided, and now we see another call for public participation on a document that is strange to us,” Bishop Deda said.
According to the government notice, members of the public are invited to submit their views on the draft Bill between December 10 and December 15, 2025.
The Bill was drafted by a task force led by Rev Mutava Musyimi, established following the Shakahola cult deaths — the mass starvation incident orchestrated by Paul Mackenzie, which resulted in more than 400 bodies being exhumed from shallow graves, making it one of Kenya's worst-recorded cult tragedies.
While the purpose of the Bill is to regulate how religious organisations operate in the country and prevent similar tragedies, the church — the main stakeholder — has demanded transparency and sufficient time to address what it considers loopholes.
“We read mischief in the timing, as December is a month when most clergy are engaged. Hence, the time granted is not sufficient to address the policy and the Bill adequately… from the look of things, the government is bent on ensuring that the Bill goes through Parliament in record time. This is clearly a violation of the Constitution,” the association said in a statement.
Additionally, Bishop Deda claimed that once the document goes through public participation, it will be almost impossible for the views of religious leaders to be addressed at the tail end of the law-making process.
“The church and clergy in Kenya are opposed to this public participation, and the process does not enjoy our blessings. The Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary has certainly shortchanged us by thrashing and ignoring all our views that we presented in our meetings,” Bishop Deda said.
Among the issues the proposed Bill and policy seek to address are the registration of religious groups, formation of an umbrella body to oversee their operations, a revised registration process, and the elimination of harmful religious activities considered extreme or supportive of terrorist groups.
