Parliament is keen to regulate churches as a motion was filed with the National Assembly on Thursday by Kigumo MP Muturi Kigano barely days after Neno Evangelism’s Bishop James Ng’ang’a and journalist Linus Kaikai collided over regulation of rogue churches in Kenya.
The onus of drafting the bill now lies with the Attorney-General Paul Kihara Kariuki within the next 90 days according to the motion by the Kigumo MP.
The bill, if enacted, will amend the Societies Act to empower the Registrar of Societies to regulate the churches.
“The purpose of this proposal is to curtail theft from the public by certain individuals calling themselves ‘men of God’. We must regulate the industry because it has become a den of corruption, extortion and other social evils,” Mr Kigano was quoted by Daily Nation
According to Muturi, the bill will focus on the mushrooming 21st-century churches and not the conventional churches such as the African Inland Church(AIC), Catholic, Anglican among others.
Traditional churches according to Muturi have helped in the growth and development of the nation by, for example, building schools, hospitals and charitable institution, unlike modern churches.
“It is not in doubt that the modern-day churches are deeply involved in commercial activities, as evidenced by their mode of dressing, media advertising so as to attract congregants, who are then coerced to make prescribed offertories and participate in endless harambees, whose proceeds end up in the owners’ pockets,” Muturi added.
Although the bill is yet to be drafted, it is expected to get heavy opposition by proprietors of modern-day churches.