Evangelical churches in Kenya have condemned the government’s plans to streamline the country’s religious organizations.
Clerical leadership gathered in the capital, Nairobi, on Monday, vowing to fight what they called an “attack” on the church, according to local media.
“The church in Kenya is under attack,” Evangelical Alliance of Kenya chairman Bishop Mark Kariuki told Capital FM, a privately-owned Kenyan radio station. “Yes, it is under persecution.”
The proposed regulations require all religious bodies to register and submit their statements of faith to a state-run agency for examination. Preachers must also undergo theological training. The Evangelical Alliance of Kenya said the move is aimed at curbing the growth of evangelical churches. Kariuki said the organization, which represents 38,000 churches and as many as 10 million Christians in Kenya, is planning to collect three million signatures to block the attorney-general from signing the proposals into law.
“Registration of churches was stopped since 2014. We believe this is meant to stop evangelism and growth of the church since other societies are being registered freely,” Kariuki told Daily Nation, a privately-owned newspaper. “Preachers are worshippers before they are preachers and all the worshippers have voters’ cards. 2017 is very close and we will not hesitate to use those cards.”
The vast majority of Kenyans are Christians, while Muslims are the second-largest religious group. The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims also opposed the regulations, saying they were developed and proposed without consulting all relevant stakeholders.
“The regulations risk violating freedom of worship and amount to a clampdown on religious institutions. This will be against the constitution. The [attorney-general] should halt the implementation of the regulations,” the council’s secretary-general Adan Wachu said in a statement.
However, some religious leaders welcomed the proposed regulations. Bishop Beneah Salah of the Anglican Church of Kenya said government intervention was needed to end the “commercialization” of religion.
“Horrible things are happening in the church today. There is a lot of commercialization of the gospel with this prosperity gospel.” Salah told reporters on Monday.
