- On Thursday, Tenwek Hospital School of Chaplaincy asked the government to fast track regulations of religious organisations.
- They said that only pastors who have undergone minimum training should be licensed to practice.
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Hospital Chaplains want the government to tighten the noose on cults through tough regulations aimed at safeguarding the public.
This as religious leaders have continued to differ on the mode of regulation for churches in the wake of rogue preachers targeting vulnerable faithful.
On Thursday, Tenwek Hospital School of Chaplaincy asked the government to fast-track regulations of religious organisations.
Paul Ekal Lokol, the principal of the college, said that the regulations should include the need to have pastors undergo not only theology but also chaplaincy training.
“It is through regulations and training that we avoid people with ill motives from taking advantage of innocent people in the name of preaching,” said Lokol.
He spoke on the eve of the college's graduation ceremony for 12 chaplains who have completed a three-year training on both Diploma and Certificate.
Lokol said that without regulations, the country risks witnessing more incidents than Kenyans were treated to this year in Shakahola.
Wilson Turgut a chaplain trainee at the institution insisted that the government should also make it mandatory for pastors to acquire practising licenses.
“The government should know is out there preaching through licensing of all pastors,” he said.
He said that only pastors who have undergone minimum training should be licensed to practice.
“There is no way a license will be issued to someone who has not been trained and therefore training would be a minimum requirement to be allowed to practise,” he added.
The remarks come at a time when the government has hounded to court controversial preacher Paul Makenzie of Good News International Ministries over the Shakahola massacre.
Tenwek Hospital School of Chaplaincy has been in operation for the last 29 years and has produced renowned pastors and chaplains in the South Rift region.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kindiki Kithure has previously said the government will not backtrack on its decision to have churches regulated.
He said a section of religious leaders have been opposing the move.
However, the CS has said the government will never again allow the incident an occurrence of what happened in Shakahola where he confirmed that over 386 bodies have been recovered from mass graves.
The government, he noted, trusted religious leaders and had a carefree attitude towards them which he said led to the death of many innocent Kenyans.
"That should never and will never happen again, that someone can hide behind the scripture and hurt so many innocent Kenyans," he said.