•The government crackdown to target all groupings irrespective of religion.
•A law to be enacted to avert incidents such as the one in Shakahola.
Image: DENNIS DIBONDO
The government has maintained it will carry on with the crackdown on rogue churches and their preachers despite the mounting opposition to the tough measures.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said neither him nor President William Ruto were about to change their minds on the clampdown.
“I am not about to change my mind on this matter. The President won't change his mind, too. We are not about to back down on this,” he said while attending a service at the House of Testimonies, Victory Revival Church Nturiri in Tharaka Nithi county.
The CS said the church and other religious organisations have an obligation to support the government in the effort to get rid of rogue preachers.
“Even if the church refuses or opposes this crackdown on rogue preachers, we will go on with the operation,” the Interior CS said.
He further warned of hefty punishments for security personnel who turn a blind eye to the infractions committed by rogue pastors.
Kindiki said such officers who fail to prevent crimes meted on innocent citizens by the rogue preachers are no different from the very preachers.
He said incidents like that of Shakahola case where 238 bodies have been pulled out of shallow graves would not have happened if the security apparatus played their role as required.
The Interior CS said any government officer who slept on the job or were bribed to look away in the Malindi incident will face the full force of the law.
“Such officers who failed to perform their duty or were bribed to fail to perform the same are no different from Paul Makenzi and his gang of killers,” the CS said.
He said the government would deal with the rogue preachers in a similar fashion as it deals with terrorists.
“The government will not relent in the fight against some religious leaders who have been using the scripture to mislead, indoctrinate, radicalise, and mislead our people. We will deal with them the same way we deal with terrorists,” he said.
Kindiki added, “There is no difference between Osama bin Laden and Makenzi. There are many other Makenzies hiding in religious groupings who we must smoke out.”
He revealed that the state was pursuing other followers of the Malindi cleric who are believed to have shifted camp to Tsavo National Park.
“I've ordered a search and rescue operation to be extended to Tsavo National Park,” Kindiki said, indicating that the exhumations at Shakahola were stopped as the Malindi morgue is full.
Pastors Ezekiel Odero and Eliud Wekesa alias Yesu wa Tongaren are among the clerics the state has visited in its crackdown.
Wekesa was released by a court in Bungoma on grounds of no evidence to link him with the crimes he was accused of.
Ezekiel is in court fighting to reclaim his TV station shut down by state and frozen bank accounts.
The CS said the government crackdown will target all groupings irrespective of religion adding that they will come up with a law to avoid incidencts like Shakahola.
"When the USA was in a twin attack on September 11, 2001, they put tough measures to safeguard their country. We are also going to put tough measures to safeguard our country," Kindiki said.