You can't tax our offerings, Churches tell State

Bishop Hudson Ndeda, chairman of the Church and Clergy Association of Kenya (center) addressing the media in Nairobi on 14th November 2023. [File, Standard]

A section of clerics have rejected plans by the government to tax offerings following the release of a report by a taskforce set up by President William Ruto to investigate activities of rogue preachers and cultism.

The 14-member team headed by former Gachoka MP Mutava Musyimi, who was former National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) General Secretary, was established last year after hundreds of people who were followers of controversial preacher Paul Mackenzie were found dead in Shakahola, Kilifi County.

But a section of clerics from Pentecostal churches have opposed the report, which has recommended regulation of churches, arguing that houses of worship were able to self-regulate.

National chairman of the Church and Clergy Association of Kenya (CCAK), Hudson Ndeda claimed that the government was hiding behind the Shakahola massacre to tax churches and punish innocent preachers.

He argued that the recommendations deny Kenyans the freedom of worship. “ We reject the report of the taskforce in totality, including commas and full stops,” the cleric said in Eldoret on Monday.

He added: “We want the President to know that there are some people in his government fighting the Church. The Church in the country is already regulated. The only move that we expect is the registrar of societies to issue a circular on how we can regulate ourselves through umbrella bodies.”

He further said it was wrong to set diplomas and degrees as minimum qualifications for preachers.

Ndeda warned that the association will move to court to stop the implementation of the report.

Bishop Zacharia Karanja said the report was likely to lump well-meaning pastors and bishops with those who engage in unlawful activities.

“We can only be answerable to God. I want to tell the government to stop using the taskforce report to control churches and their activities,” he said.