Tower of church under clear sky. Image used for illustration purposes. PHOTO/Pexels 

A section of Pentecostal pastors from Kieni West Sub-County has strongly condemned the government over a newly proposed bill seeking to regulate churches.

Speaking at the Four Square Church in Mweiga, Kieni Constituency, Nyeri County, the pastors, led by Bishop Erastus Njoroge, described the bill as oppressive and vowed not to allow the government to interfere with church affairs.

“This bill is meant to suppress the church, and we will never allow ourselves to be placed under government control because we are not under the state,” said Bishop Njoroge.

The clergy criticised some of the proposals in the bill, including the plan to shut down churches with fewer than 50 members, saying the move is discriminatory and unconstitutional.

“Closing small churches because they have fewer than 50 congregants is unacceptable. Every believer, no matter the size of their fellowship, has a right to worship freely. Even the Bible says where two or three gather in the name of the Lord, He is also there,” he added.he 2022 election campaigns.

“We are reminding the President to keep his word that he told us during the campaigns that he would protect the church, unless he has since left it,” the bishop said.

The clergy also called on legislators to reject the bill, saying it only intends to oppress the church.

“We also want to caution our legislators not to support this oppressive bill, as we are watching. They should not support it at all,” Pastor John Mimano said.

They further expressed disappointment that the views presented by religious leaders to the task force collecting public opinions were ignored.

“Even after we presented our ideas to the task force, none of our recommendations were included in the final draft of the bill,” the clergy said. By Loise Wambugu, K24