Religious leaders in Kakamega have opposed the National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi’s proposed bill to regulate the amount of money to be contributed to churches by civil servants.
The bill will require civil servants who make donations of more than Sh100,000 to declare to the EACC the source of those funds.
But the clergy from both Christian and Muslim affiliations said the move is contrary to the scriptural principles concerning giving.
They addressed the press in Kakamega after attending a two-day workshop convened by the county dialogue conference at Bishop Nicholas Stam Pastoral Centre in Kakamega.
The clerics said that they have no obligation to vet the offering and support given to the churches and mosques for the progression of the work of God.
“Giving is from the heart and the word of God is very clear on the issue of giving, if you have much, give much, if you have little, give little,” Sheikh Haji Abdi Wafula of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims said.
Wafula said there is no specific grade or amount of money one ought to give to religious organisations.
“We shall only go by what God has instructed us to do and not by what a human being wants,” Wafula said.
They said whoever wants to regulate the church should consult the religious experts who understand the word of God.
Bishop Nicholas Olumasai of Interfaith Church said the government has not made any allocations to the Church in its budget and so it has no business regulating the resources it has no stake in.
“If they want to regulate the amount of money contributed to a church or mosque they should then allocate funds for the same. Then they will have the guts to tell us how much we should receive or spend as the church,” Olumasai said
On Sunday Bishop Titus Khamala who is also the Lurambi MP criticised Mbadi over his planned motion.
He said Mbadi's plan was vague and amounted to petty politics "whose intentions will not go anywhere".
Khamala said church issues should not be politicised and that those agitating for limiting the offering in the church don’t know God and have not read the Bible well.
“If you are a politician, stick to politics and leave issues of the church to the clergy. I can assure you that the motion will be dead on arrival,” Khamala said.
(edited by O. Owino)
