ICC Note: After public outcry from religious leaders, Kenyan authorities have backed down from new proposals to regulate religious freedom in Kenya. The measures would have forced churches to register with the government, pastors to have to have attended reputable seminaries, and would have imposed government audits on churches. Muslims and Christian groups both objected to these ideas, with some Anglicans supporting the ideas so that the Church could be purged of “commercialism” and prosperity gospel teaching.

By Mark Woods

1/13/16 Kenya (Christian Post) – Kenya’s government has rowed back from moves to regulate the country’s churches in the face of fierce opposition from religious leaders.

New proposals unveiled last week by Kenya’s Attorney-General Githu Muigai would require all religious bodies to register and for preachers to have police clearance.

All religious institutions would also be required to submit their statements of faith to a government body. Other proposed measures include requiring preachers to undergo theological training at a reputable seminary and requiring foreign pastors to hold a work permit and a recommendation from their government.

However, the proposals were denounced by the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK), the Roman Catholic Church – to which the country’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta, belongs – and by representatives of the minority Muslim community.

In a reflection of the tensions created by the proposals, Kenyatta urged Githu to ensure the new rules are only implemented after “thorough and exhaustive consultations with all groups, bearing in mind the sancrosanct constitutional principles governing the freedom of religion and worship”.

A spokesman said: “The President has further directed the Attorney General to ensure that the current draft regulations are subjected to further vigorous public consultations so that they in no way undermine the fundamental values and principles enshrined in the constitution, and which are a way of life for the people of Kenya.”

The proposals were aimed at clamping down on rogue preachers and unscrupulous televangelists, themselves the subject of new broadcasting regulations which will ban preachers from soliciting money on air.

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