Interior Cabinet Secretary, Kithure Kindiki, says that the government’s stance on the regulation of churches continues. He pointed out that though a section of religious leaders are opposing this move, the government is adamant about enforcing it.
Kindiki speaks at Kamahuha PEFA church in Maragua, Murang’a. While at the event, he speaks to the issue that the number of Shakahola victims exceeds the number of terror victims. He raises alarm over the freedom given to churches.
He mentions that during the period when churches have been left to be free, they manipulated people. Kindiki places blame on the churches for exploring its congregants and promise to introduce regulation by the government.
Previously, he had mentioned that Kenyans thought that Christianity didn’t practice extremism. The shocking revelations from Shakahola however dispute this fact. Kindiki points out that the bodies being exhumed daily affirm the extremism in Christianity and hence necessitate the need for government regulation.
The Government regulation to be introduced involves the recognition of church leaders. The idea is that every religious leader should be licensed and recognized by the state as a religious leader. This would manage the conduct of the religious leader as they are recognized and can be followed up on.
With this model, Kindiki promises to flush out all the people hiding behind churches. He goes ahead to call out those opposing the regulation as people who want to support malpractice in religious institutions. Kindiki claims that the introduction of regulation limits the liberty religious leaders now have and reduces fatalities attributed to religious institutions.
” The best thing that we can do for Kenya is to ensure that such a thing never happens again. We will not allow somebody who is not licensed, who decides how his church is run without being held accountable to continue hurting Kenyans,” he said.
He went ahead to urge the clergy to help oust the bad religious leaders in institutions. If they don’t assist in their ousting, Kindiki points out that licensing the leaders will automatically flush them out.
In his speech, he declared that over 336 bodies have been recovered from the Shakahola forest. The exercise however takes a break from Monday for the conduct of postmoterm on already exhumed bodies. This is the third round of the exercise being carried out.
While in the meeting, Kindiki urges those filing for missing persons to be patient. Assures them that the exercise continues and to the best of their ability, they will find those affected by Shakahola exercise.
Read More: Death Toll In Shakahola Cult Rises To 241 As 34 Suspects Arrested
