Duo opposed to regulation of faiths

Some church leaders yesterday opposed the involvement of the State in regulating religious organisations.

They, however, called for the enactment of a new law to establish the ‘Office of the Registrar of Religious Organisations’ and remove the registration of religious organisations from the mandate of the Registrar of Societies.

Dr David Owuor’s Repentance and Holiness Church and Bishop Margaret Wanjiru of Jesus Is Alive Ministries (JIAM) said the State should not regulate religious organisations as it would interfere with the right to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion as enshrined in article 32 of the Constitution.

Appearing before the Senate Ad hoc committee investigating the Shakahola deaths, JIAM Apostolic Presiding Bishop Wanjiru instead rooted for self-regulation, albeit in a five-tier system beginning from the grassroots level up to the Registrar of Religious Organisations’ level.

Wanjiru told the Tana River Senator Danson Mungatanaled committee that religious organisations should be given time to develop policies and by-laws that will govern their operations.

“We propose a self-regulation structure of four or five tiers that begins from the grassroots, headquarters of religious organisations, umbrella bodies, Council of Commission of Faith and Registrar of religious organisations,” said Wanjiru.

New law

Bishop Wanjiru said religious matters belong to the spiritual realm and religious issues cannot be fully comprehended by the natural or secular mind.

“It will be impossible for the state to practically and fully understand every religion. Religious matters should be left to religious leaders and organisations. To be able to deal with religious extremists, we propose that religious registration be removed from the Societies Act and a new act that will anchor religious organisations be established,” charged Wanjiru.

She proposed that in order to deal with the proliferation of religious organisations and extremism, there is a need to establish what she termed as the ‘Commission of Faith’ or ‘Council of Faith’ to regulate religious organisations.

Bishop Wanjiru and Prophet Owuor tell senators the move would interfere with freedom of worship In addition, the Commission ought to be empowered that by its own motion, it can initiate and conduct investigations where it is of the view that the practices of a given religious group could be extremist.

“There are sufficient laws to regulate churches. What is lacking is the self-regulation of different religions. Across the world, most countries allow self-regulation and the rights to institutional religious freedom, recognized by most governments,” she said.

Wanjiru further charged that the Shakahola tragedy should never have happened, adding that it happened over a long period of time under the watch of many government administrative agencies in Kilifi County.

Performing miracles

“It is impossible that the government agencies did not know what was happening in Shakahola. This matter must have been known and the Taskforce formed should investigate why did all the government agencies keep quiet about this.” Repentance and Holiness Church legal counsel Gerald Odiwuor Kelly, however, said that the aftermath of the Shakahola massacre does not need any regulation.

Instead, Odiwuor told the committee that there are already enough laws to deal with religious extremism, adding that there are instances where the country needs spiritual intervention.

“A crime is a crime. Whatever happened in Shakahola is murder and the culprits should be held liable for the crimes committee. We do not need any regulation on the Shakahola incidence,” said Odiwuor.

Flanked by a battery of Owuor’s zealots, Odiwuor told the committee that in order to deal with the proliferation of religious organisations, preachers should be barred from showing on the screen Mpesa numbers to which faithful should channel their offerings.

In addition, Repentance and Holiness ministry is also urging that once a miracle has been performed, members of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Council (KMPDC) should swing with speed and medically prove that a person has been healed of the ailment they are claiming.

“If a miracle has happened, we need scientific evidence that the person claiming to have been healed was indeed suffering from a particular ailment. We should not have MPESA numbers on the TV screens,” said Dr Torome Kochei.

With constant reference to Owuor as the ‘Mighty prophet’, his acolytes insisted that going by the many ‘miracles’ he has performed globally, he has earned the title ‘Mighty prophet’ of God. Senators William Cheptumo (Baringo), Wafula Wakoli (Bungoma) and Veronica Maina (Nominated) disagreed with them, citing that it’s only Jesus who can be referred to as a ‘Mighty prophet and not any other mortal being.

The Senators further poked holes in the constitution of Repentance and Holiness Church which gives unfettered powers to Owuor to dictate all the teachings and doctrines.

“Is it in order to dictate all the doctrine and teachings of the church? Will it be fair for one to do this? Can you recommend this constitution to any other church to use and implement it?” posed Wakoli. However, in their defence, lawyer Odiwuor said that it would be improper for them to give their constitution to anybody, adding that it would be tricky for the state to guide or regulate religious organizations.

“We do not need special laws to deal with religious extremism. Let us treat a crime as a crime. We cannot give our constitution to anybody because we know that they cannot implement it,” charged Odiwuor.