Catholic Bishops in Kenya Meet President as Youths Spearhead Campaign to Stop Politicians from Church Fundraisers

In a statement issued following the June 28 meeting with members of the permanent council of KCCB, President Ruto stated, “We welcome the commitment by the Catholic Church to participate in a multi-sectoral engagement that seeks solutions to the issues facing our country.”

“Through this collective approach, we will move Kenya forward,” Kenya’s President added, referring to his June 26 address to the nation, during which he proposed that “a multi-sectoral, multi- stakeholder engagement be held with a view to charting the way forward on matters relating to the content of the bill ...as well as auxiliary issues raised in recent days on the need for austerity measures and strengthening our fight against corruption.”

Members of the permanent council who met the President include Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba, KCCB President, Archbishop Anthony Muheria, Archbishop Philip Anyolo, Archbishop Martin Kivuva Musonde, Bishop John Oballa Owaa, Bishop Dominic Kimengich, Bishop Simon Peter Kamomoe, and KCCB Secretary General, Fr. Jude Waweru.

Earlier, as the June 25 violent protests were unfolding, a section of KCCB members addressed the nation, decrying and condemning, “in the strongest terms, the use of force by the police, the arrests, and the indiscriminate and unnecessary use of live bullets.”

In their collective statement read out from Roussel House of Donum Dei Missionary Sisters in Karen, Nairobi, Catholic Bishops in Kenya said they acknowledged the importance of paying taxes, but however noted that the government must not overtax its citizens. The government, KCCB members said, should also “not be in denial about its intended excessive taxation.”

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Catholic Bishops in Kenya Meet President as Youths Spearhead Campaign to Stop Politicians from Church Fundraisers

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Credit: State House Kenya

“The country is bleeding and therefore we invite the Government to reflect on this matter with the seriousness it deserves,” they emphasized in their June 25 collective statement. 

As the permanent council of KCCB was meeting President Ruto, a section of Kenyan youths was spearheading a campaign to stop politicians from participating in church fundraisers.

Credit: State House Kenya

A Kenyan protester identified as “Mwabili Mwagodi” reached out to church leaders, who had organized fundraising events with politicians or persons affiliated to politicians as chief guests, delivering messages of caution.

“I see here you have invited Mrs. Rachel Ruto to your church for a fundraiser. First of all, the money is definitely looted from the taxes I pay to this government of LOOTERS,” reads in part Mwabili Mwagodi’s message to the leadership of Lavington United Church New Sanctuary, referring to the June 30 event where Kenya’s First Lady was to be chief guest.

Mwabili Mwagodi, who describes himself as “the person who started the campaign to get rid of politicians from the Church pulpit in Kenya” adds that the husband of the First Lady (President Ruto) “is on a killing spree of young men, women and children around the country.”

“This message is to notify you that we are coming for the fundraiser. God bless you,” Mwabili Mwagodi concludes.

In a message circulated on social media, the “Leadership and Pastoral Team of Lavington United Church” informs “members that the Fundraising Event scheduled for 30th June 2024 has been cancelled.”

Generation Z (Gen Z)-led protests against Kenya’s Finance Bill 2024 started on June 18; hundreds of youths and some human rights activists took to the streets of Nairobi to urge the legislators not to vote for the Bill during its second reading that was scheduled for June 20.

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On June 20, the Gen Z-led protests took place in at least 18 Kenyan cities and townships, with protestors saying they are not satisfied with the announced amendments to the Bill. Kenya’s legislators approved the Bill in its second reading. The proposed Bill, protestors said, is set to raise the cost of living for an average Kenyan, who is already struggling to survive.

The legislators met again on June 25, and approved the proposed amendments to the Finance Bill 2024, with apposition legislators opposed to the entire Bill having withdrawn their respective amendments. 

In declining to sign the Bill, President Ruto reportedly sent a memorandum to Kenyan legislators, stating, "In exercise of the powers conferred to me by Article 115(1)(b) of the Constitution, and having reservations on the content of the Bill in its entirety, I decline to assent to the Finance Bill, 2024, and refer the Bill for reconsideration by the National Assembly with the recommendation for deletion of the clauses thereof".

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