The National Council of Churches of Kenya has says the government should stop hiding under the calls for self regulation in its quest to end religious cultism in the country.
NCCK says the government is solely to blame for the deaths of over 110 followers of the Good News International Church.
In a presser Archbishop Martin Kivuva says the state is answerable as to why Cleric Paul Makenzie was allowed to conduct his teachings for over two decades.
“We find that the narrative being driven that churches, and by extension, religion, need to be regulated is a façade meant to divert attention from the real problem, which is that the State has failed to play its role of dealing with crime,” the clergy said
Archbishop Martin Kivuva, further says the state to hasten the investigations into the shakahola mass murder.
“We call upon the government to expedite investigations and prosecute, not only Pastor Mackenzie and accomplices in his church, but also the state officers who have over the years facilitated him to engage in criminal activity through complicity or being compromised through bribery,” they stated.
The council of leaders’ statement comes in the backdrop of a call by President William Ruto for religious leaders and the state to come into an agreement on how churches could be regulated.
President Willaim Ruto also asked the judiciary to form a commission of inquiry into the Shakahola deaths, a statement that was strongly opposed by the Azimio side, arguing that the order will violate the doctrine of separation of powers.
The president’s requests also comes hot over heels with the senate forming an ad hoc committee into the mass deaths in Kilifi county