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| Rev. Fr. Daniel Rono, General Secretary Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops |
The rules attracted widespread condemnation for infringing on Kenya’s constitution. In a statement sent to media houses on 28th, January, 2016, President Uhuru Kenyatta rejected the proposals and directed that a new process driven by religious stakeholders with the participation of the government and the general public to take place.
The Religious Societies Rules published by the Attorney General‘s Office require that all religious organizations submit their constitution showing statement of their doctrine of faith.
Any religious society in Kenya must have its constitution with programmes, ministries, charitable activities and education activities undertaken by the religious society and details of persons coordinating these activities. According to the new rules, all religious societies must be registered and open to the registrar's inspection any time.
They also demand that all pastors in Kenya must hold a theological certificate from an accredited theological institution. The new rules was set to be gazetted at the end of January, and was expected to be operational after a year.
In an interview with Waumini News, Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) General Secretary, Very Rev. Fr. Daniel Rono said that President Kenyatta’s decision to withdraw the proposed rules was reached after a successful consultative deliberation between religious leaders and the government.
While acknowledging the government’s concern about misuse of the freedom to worship by fraudulent religious leaders who extort money from worshipers and radicalize the youth, Father Rono said religious leaders were keen to adopt self-regulation.
The religious leaders drawn from Muslim, Hindu, National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), KCCB and evangelical Churches resolved to convene series of meetings to discuss the matter further and give way forward to the government.
President Kenyatta said that he expected the outcome to be a development of firm and fair regulations that uphold the sacrosanct principles of religious freedom that underpin the democratic ideals as guaranteed by the Kenyan constitution.
“The government remains committed to an open, transparent and accessible government where public participation and consideration of a broad range of views is paramount,” He added
By Rose Achiego, Waumini Communications KCCB
