Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

The wide guidelines issued by the Interfaith Council on reopening of places of worship have elicited mixed reactions,  with some of members of the clergy threatening to disregard the directives on age limit, asserting that the restrictions will limit freedom of worship. 

Speaking in various parts of the country, the clergy questioned the criteria for the phased reopening of places of worship, saying it is unfair to limit the number of worshippers per service to 100 and have persons over the age of 58 and above locked out. 

In Nakuru, pastors under the Umbrella of Nakuru Pastors Fellowship termed the directives “unreasonable” and vowed to disregard the restrictions, adding that anti-virus rules must be followed strictly. 

Bishop  Jackson Maina,70, of Victorious Community Church in Nakuru, argued that not all elderly people have underlying health conditions, adding that the directive to bar them from attending church services was illegal and farfetched to have them out of ministry. 

According to Maina, 70 per cent of churches in the rural areas have elderly members who are passionate about spreading the gospel, adding that blocking them will water down the progress they have made. 

In Taita Taveta, Bishop Dr Meshack Nyangala, overseer of Revival Powers and Reconciliation Ministries in Kenya, said although they had pleaded with the government to open churches, the restrictions imposed on services were so severe they made it virtually impossible to conduct any meaningful services.

Bishop Nyangala blamed the Church’s woes on what he termed as “ineptitude” of the inter-religious council formed to review the re-opening of places of worship.

“That the council can propose one hour for a church service shows how out-of-touch they are with reality. Any comprehensive preaching takes around 45 minutes, so what worthy service to God will be satisfied by the one hour allocated?” he posed.

He accused the council, chaired by Catholic Archbishop Anthony Muheria, of misleading the government and asked the President to use his discretion and ease the restrictions.

On Monday, President Uhuru Kenyatta allowed resumption of religious services but with some restrictions according to recommendations by inter-religious council.

The conditions include barring people aged 58 years and above and children under 13 from attending services. Also, the maximum number of people in a church should not exceed 100 and a service should only last one hour.

Afiz Nyambu, chair of the Supreme Council for Kenya Muslim (Supkem), Taita-Taveta branch, urged the government not to discriminate against the old. 

He noted that Kenyans of advanced years needed religious nourishment and asked the State to support equality for all in worship.

Similar reactions were expressed by pastors inTrans Nzoia County who termed the guidelines “unrealistic and selective”.

“Why is it that other sectors are advised to merely observe the World Health Organisation guidelines in their operations while churches have extra restrictions,” asked Bishop Benjamin Tanguli.

“We have not seen age restrictions in public service vehicles, supermarkets and bars,” he added.