Clergy protest higher fees for marriage certificates

Mombasa, Kenya: Some clergymen from Mombasa have protested against the recent Government move to impose a fee on marriages conducted by churches.

The clerics are opposed to a directive they say was issued by the office of the Attorney General through the Registrar of Marriages that requires churches to buy marriage certificate books at Sh25, 000.

According to Kenya National Congress of Pentecostal Churches, the churches are required to hand over the books they had bought at Sh20,000 to the Government and purchase new ones at the new price.

"As licensed ministers, we act as Government agents to issue the certificates to the people. The marriage licence is therefore not a favour to the clergy," said Bishop Tee Nalo, the chairman of the religious body in Mombasa.

Bishop Nalo said the directive for churches to pay for the marriage certificate books would make unions expensive and out of reach for poor families.