{"id":132,"date":"2016-01-15T14:51:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T14:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2016\/01\/15\/kenya-catholic-bishops-decry-proposed\/"},"modified":"2016-05-03T09:40:33","modified_gmt":"2016-05-03T09:40:33","slug":"kenya-catholic-bishops-decry-proposed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2016\/01\/15\/kenya-catholic-bishops-decry-proposed\/","title":{"rendered":"KENYA: Catholic Bishops decry the Proposed New Rule on Religious Societies imposed by the Government"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\nThe
\nCatholic Bishops of Kenya have criticised the proposed religious societies
\nrules 2015 on which they say that it is a clear violation of the constitution
\nwhich draws a clear line between the Church and state. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nSpeaking
\nduring a press conference at Waumini House \u2013 Westlands on 12 January 2016 the
\nChairman of Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), Rt. Rev Philip Anyolo
\ntermed the laws which demand that \u2018all religion\/denomination keep records of
\nfollowers\u2019 as unrealistic and untenable and that it will change their identity
\nand become mere registration centres.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n\u201cTo
\ndemand that Churches keep records of their followers will effectively reduce
\nChristianity into a game of numbers, and water down the mission of the Church
\nwhich is evangelization and assisting people to become better persons,\u201d he said
\nadding that \u201cMatters of faith are not about numbers. They are about conversion
\nof the soul.\u201d<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nKenya’s
\nOffice of the Attorney General has introduced new rules, expected to take
\neffect next month, with the aim of regulating religious organisations and their
\nleaders. The Religious Societies Compliance Rules, drafted in December and open
\nfor deliberation until February 18th, will require clerics and administrators
\nof religious organisations to register with the authorities or face revocation
\nof their licences. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nUnder
\nthe new rules, religious leaders must obtain certificates of clearance from the
\nCriminal Investigations Department (CID) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption
\nCommission (EACC), and all religious organisations must file annual tax returns.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nPriests,
\nimams, swamis and the administrative officers of religious establishments, such
\nas trustees and committee members, will have to provide their personal
\nidentification numbers and a copy of their national identification card, copies
\nof their tax clearance or tax exemption certificates, certificates of good
\nconduct from the CID and EACC, and professional credentials in order to operate
\nlawfully.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nIn
\naddition, religious institutions will have to list the location of each branch,
\nthe leaders and administrators associated with each location, and any other
\naffiliated organisations.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nMissionaries
\nand international preachers also will be required to obtain a letter of
\nrecommendation from their respective embassies and a Kenyan work permit.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe
\nmove, according to the government aimed to develop more stringent rules to
\nregulate faith-based organisations in response to public complaints that some
\nwere extorting money under false pretences; taking advantage of their flocks by
\nfleecing them of their hard earned cash in exchange for miracles while others
\nare using these religious institutions and holy scriptures to indoctrinate
\nfollowers with extremist ideology.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nBy AMECEA Online News
\nReporters<\/i><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n  <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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