Kenyan President Kenyatta says he will work with bishops to amend guidelines for regulating religious bodies

January 19, 2016

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has promised to work with religious leaders to ensure that new regulations governing religious bodies do not infringe on the right to worship.

"Our constitution accords every Kenyan the right to worship, and I fully support that position," Kenyatta said. "But we will not allow thieves to use religion to steal from Kenyans."

The Kenyan president was responding to protests by the country's Catholic bishops, who saw the proposed new guidelines as a threat to religious freedom. He promised further consultations, saying that "we must work together to root out people who use the church to enrich themselves."

The guidelines are designed to crack down on cult leaders who have used religious services for profit, and on radical Islamic groups that recruit terrorists.

The Catholic bishops of Kenya, along with their Anglican counterparts, questioned the proposed rules that would require registration of religious bodies, financial audits, and government certification of foreign religious ministers.

 

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Further information:

• Regulation of worship: the President in favor of a compromise with the 'official' churches (Fides)
• Kenyan bishops protest government proposals to regulate worship (CWN, 1/13)