Members of the National Assembly have said they will not be intimidated and will continue to donate to churches.

The expressions of defiance followed the decision of the Nairobi archdiocese to reject a cash donation from President William Ruto and Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja.

Ruto had contributed about Sh2.5 million and Sakaja Sh200,000 to the Soweto Catholic Church a week ago, but Nairobi Archbishop Philip Anyolo said the money would be returned to the donors.

Speaking on the floor of the ouse, MPs claimed the church had failed to address the most challenging issues in society and was instead focusing on fighting politicians.

Debate on the matter started when Minority Leader Junet Mohamed (pictured) said that although he respected religious institutions, church leaders needed to respect lawmakers and address them with decorum.

He said: “Parliament has been under attack for quite some time now from certain quarters … religious leaders and other groups. We are not here by accident, we are not members of Parliament by accident, we were elected by the people of Kenya.

“We respect our religious leaders because they are the people who guide us spiritually. But politics is different from religion. If you think there’s an issue that you are not happy with, as a leader of another sector, address [MPs with dignity and decorum, don’t belittle them.”

He called on his fellow MPs to stand up for their rights. “The other institution that does not have a union is Parliament. Other institutions are defended by the unions. We have now become 416 union members here,” he said.

Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah defended the work of Parliament, rejecting claims by some clerics that the House had been “captured” by the Executive.

He said: “I would like to remind our religious leaders, including my own moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Rev Thegu, whom I saw last night on TV admonishing this House … that when the Executive wants us to pass bills, we pass them with lightning speed.

“Of course we pass them with lightning speed because that is what the people elected us to do.”