The Church and the State: A tale of complicated love, hate relationship

From left: President William Ruto, Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire and Nyeri Catholic Archbishop Anthony Muheria during the Consecration and Installation of Bishop Peter Kimani Ndung'u, in Embu county, on November 16, 2024. [PCS]

Religion and politics have always gone together in Kenya. 

Churches have proven to be rich vote-hunting grounds for politicians while the clergy has strived to remain strong in leading the political discourse in the country. 

This is a reality that has been replicated and buttressed during the current President William Ruto’s administration, where the Church has made State House its home and in return, politicians are treated like kings whenever they grace houses of worship across the country. 

After President Ruto took the reins of power, he doubled down on his Christian belief. He has invited pastors to anoint and cleanse offices, conduct services on State House lawns and even lead prayers for the nation so that the woes afflicting it can ease. 

In the run up to the August 2022 elections, Ruto also met with his Beatitude Pope Theodoros ll, The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa. During the meeting, Ruto lauded the church for its role in development projects. 

A recent spat between the State and the church has, however, exposed the long existing fault lines between the two institutions, illustrating the acrimony that has periodically reared its head in almost every successive regime. 

Through a statement, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) on Thursday called out President Ruto’s administration for what the bishops termed a deeply entrenched culture of lies, corruption, unfulfilled promises and misplaced priorities.

KCCB, led by its chairperson, Archbishop Maurice Muhatia, accused the State of burying its head in the sand while Kenyans were dealing with over-taxation, unemployment, disturbing gaps in the implementation of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) education system, and the transition from National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).

“We have made clear statements many times in the recent past, with very little response from the government. Despite the calmness we are experiencing, there is a lot of anxiety and most people are losing trust in the government,” said Muhatia.

The clergy also took a swipe at politicians for advancing politics of self-interest and wrangling, which they said  risked balkanising the country.

“The political wrangles in the government have generated unwarranted tensions and deepened divisions among our people. Further, it has created an environment of mistrust among citizens and within the government itself,” added Muhatia.

They further claimed that the government had  reneged on its promise to clear arrears amounting to billions owed to faith-based hospitals under the now defunct NHIF. 

The bishops were displeased by the laxity in the war against graft and the delay in addressing reported abductions, disappearances and killings of Kenyans by security personnel. 

What followed was a wave of responses from the government through which they denied the accusations leveled against them. 

The Head of State, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and the police all issued statements pointing a finger at the clergy. 

The happenings were reminiscent of those during the August 2022 pre-election period where the Church was engaged in a stand-off with politicians after it barred the latter from speaking at the pulpit. 

At the time, allies from the then Deputy President William Ruto’s circle were concerned and felt that by the Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Anglican Church barring politicians from speaking in church, they were taking a political position. 

The differences between the Church and the government are, however, not new, as history shows. 

Under the President Daniel Moi era, there were instances where the Church did not see eye to eye with the State. 

In its advocacy for an end to the one party state, the Church regularly clashed with the State and would in return be met by force through the police. 

During this period, a select group of clergymen consistently criticised the government as they spoke against the excesses of the the then Kanu administration.

Retired PCEA minister Reverend Timothy Njoya knows such force.

In 1997, Rev Njoya, also a political activist then, was accosted and mercilessly battered by a plain clothes policeman in Nairobi during an anti-government protest. At least eight people, including a police officer, were killed during the emerging fracas.

The man, whose life cut across both the Church and the civil society, was relentless as he led like-minded individuals in search for a new constitution that would end the then one-party political system.  

Bishop Alexander Muge, of the Anglican Diocese of Eldoret, was also a man who pushed back against the excesses of the then regime.  

When he was killed in a mysterious road accident, government critics opined that he had paid the ultimate price for speaking against rampant land grabbing and endemic corruption.

His accident occurred after defying the then Labour Minister Peter Okondo’s threat. Okondo had warned that the cleric would not leave alive if visited his Busia backyard.

Anglican Bishop Henry Okullu also went down in history as an advocate against political pluralism.