President William Ruto
Umbrella bodies representing Pentecostal Churches have called on President William Ruto to revoke the gazettement of a task force established to review laws governing churches.
Religious leaders drawn from the churches say the Head of State needs to come up with a task force that has representatives from Pentecostal and Charismatic churches.
According to the National chairman of the Church and Clergy Association of Kenya Bishop Hudson Ndeda, the task force was established without any consultation with Pentecostal umbrella bodies and was ill-advised.
“To this end, we are apprehensive that the failure to include us in the task force will prejudice and oppress the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches,” said Ndeda.
He added that the church is already regulated under the Societies Act.
“We cannot be coming up with new regulations every time we have such individual cases. The church should not be treated differently from the rest when it comes to dealing with rogue elements in our society.”
“We do not see the same approach when dealing with, for example, rogue doctors, lawyers, and teachers,” he added.
Also, present at the briefing were representatives from the Association of Registered Churches Kenya, Kenya National Congress of Pentecostal Churches and Ministries, Beulah Clergy United Association, House of Clergy, Hope of Kenya Pastors, Charismatic Churches of Kenya, Federation of Evangelistic and Indigenous Churches of Kenya, United Christian Churches of Kenya, Zoe Prayer Movement and EAK Starehe Sub-county.
This comes as after President William Ruto formed a 17-member task force to review legal and regulatory frameworks governing the institutions.
In a gazette notice dated 5th of May 2023, Ruto said the task force’s main responsibilities will include identifying gaps that have allowed extremist religious organizations in Kenya, as well as formulating a legal framework preventing radical religious entities from operating locally.
A newsmaker, reporter and anchor at Pearl Radio, Ndalilah Sharon is witty and savvy.
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