The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops has urged the government to tighten the rules that govern the establishment and functioning of religious organizations in the nation.
This comes as the death toll from an incident in Shakahola, Kilifi County, where Pastor Mackenzie Nthenge of the Good News International Church allegedly encouraged followers to starve themselves to meet Jesus.
Catholic bishops called for a review of recommendations in the Religious Societies Rules 2015 on Monday, claiming that some organizations' lack of leadership structures and processes has jeopardized the current self-regulation provision.
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According to KCCB Chairperson Martin Kivuva, if a strong structure for regulating religions had been in place, the law would have prevented Pastor Mackenzie from using Kenyans to commit mass suicide.
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He also called for a review of proposed state regulations to guarantee that such rogue pastors be uncovered and denied the opportunity to continue their destructive deeds. A review of this nature should aid in identifying the weak legal and theological ties that cult leaders have been using to brainwash their unknowing followers.
The Catholic bishops lamented Mackenzie's church being allowed to keep up its dangerous doctrine for a long time, which resulted in the loss of countless lives with the state security machinery completely unaware.
The statement is as follows: Unfortunately, we are witnessing a disturbing reality in Kenya, where so-called prophets and cultic leaders have mastered exploiting naive Kenyans in the name of religion.
According to police, the Shakahola Massacre had claimed 58 lives as of Monday. Japhet Koome, Inspector-General of Police, told journalists that 29 individuals had been found alive. At the same time, detectives dug through the Shakahola area, which had been closed off in the aftermath of the operation.
The official police report indicates that over 112 people are still reported missing.
