Regulate, but after consultation

NAIROBI: Proposals by Attorney General Githu Muigai to regulate churches have rubbed clerics the wrong way. Their reaction was to threaten the government in a way they knew would get results, and it would seem they have won the first round following President Uhuru Kenyatta's directive that concerned parties sit at a round table for further discussions.

Looked at objectively, some of the proposals were actually good for the church which, needless to say, has failed to self-regulate. Effective self-regulation would have ensured that some of the mushrooming churches with cultic practices and strange beliefs that go counter to biblical teachings did not get a foothold in Kenya. It would have ensured deviant militant Islamic preachers did not indoctrinate the Kenyan youth.

The search for spiritual nourishment among Kenyans has given individuals with loose morals and the itch for a quick buck the excuse to fleece them in the name of religion, and it is here that the government must concentrate its efforts.The requirement that church leaders should acquire certificates of good conduct deserves support. This is so because the actions of some have been highly questionable. Cases of rape and defilement in churches abound.

Control is necessary for the maintenance of order but it should be done after consultations with all concerned parties to clear the impression that the government is determined to take away the freedom of worship and other liberties.