President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday hinted at the reopening
of places of worship.
While delivering his Madaraka Day speech at State House, the
President said he shared the heavy hearts of all those who can no longer
worship as they used to.
As part of the measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus
in the country, the government ordered closure of all places of worship in
March and President Kenyatta has now called on all stakeholders involved to
hasten consultations and come up with a workable plan.
“I share the heavy hearts of all the faithful who can no
longer congregate and share in worship in that regard, and conscious of the
emerging trend of infections.
“I direct the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of
Health to continue and hasten their engagement with religious leaders; with the
objective of developing protocols that will be adopted to guide a more
participatory way of worship while guaranteeing the safety of worshipers,” he
said.
Religious leaders around the country have been putting
pressure on the government to re-open places of worship, some arguing that
Covid-19 should be battled on the altar.
Last month, Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala asked the
President to re-open places of worship but under strict guidelines of social
distancing.
The senator argued that the country is need of some
spiritual nourishment and since some eateries were given the go-ahead to resume
business, churches, mosques and temples should also be considered.
“Let us resume other activities including opening churches
and mosques because praying together plays a big part in the spiritual
nourishment of our people.
"They can observe all the directives, including sitting
1.5 metres apart and limiting the maximum number of church services that can be
held in one day,” he opined.
Adding: "Surely, if you can trust a drunkard with following the safety regulations for Covid-19, how can we deny the same for worshippers?”