Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwalwe has urged the government to emulate Rwanda’s legislation on churches.

“What President Kagame is doing to prevent exploitation of the public by vetting the clergy is long overdue in Kenya,”

Khalwale was responding to President Kagame’s government move to tighten rules on registration and function of churches in the country that has so far seen saw 6,000 churches closed.

Last month Kagame had expressed shock at the high number of churches in the country, which he said was too much for the country’s population.

“Seven hundred churches in Kigali alone? Are these boreholes that give people water?” asked President Paul Kagame following reports that authorities had closed down more than 700 churches.

The closure of the churches by the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) was meant to tighten rules on registration and functioning of churches in the country in the face of rising cases of fraud and security concerns.

Rwanda is also preparing a new legislation that will require religious leaders to hold a degree in theology before they can be allowed to start their own churches.

REGULATION OF CHURCHES IN KENYA

In Kenya, we probably have a church for every 10 Kenyans judging by the high number of churches that sprout up left, right and center.

The gospel has become highly commercialised with fake pastor’s gimmicks to steal from their flock in the name of “planting seeds” or buying “holy water” owing to a gap in regulation of religious institutions.

In 2017 the government banned the registration of churches in a move then the attorney general, Githu Muigai said was aimed at justifying the foundations of religious institutions and also play an oversight role following the increased cases of ‘radicalization’ in Kenya.

President Uhuru Kenyatta however ordered the AG to lift the ban.