Kenyans Trust Churches More Than Govt Institutions – Afrobarometer Study

Nairobi — A recent study has shown that Kenyans trust religious leaders more compared to other government institutions.

According to the research by Afrobarometer, religious institutions are the most trusted due to their participation in governance and leadership.

The firm’s Co- National Investigator Oscar Otele stated that Seeing that this is an election year, we note a worrying distrust in the IEBC however, on the other hand, we note high levels of trust in the religious bodies of Kenya from the two major denominations in Kenya; Christians and Muslims.”

He cited the example of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) whose General Secretary Chris Kinyanjui appeared before the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee on Feb 2.

During the session, Kinyanjui expressed concerns that the proposed changes to the Election Campaign Financing (Amendment) Bill 2021 will weaken the oversight mechanisms on campaign financing.

Further evidence of this trust of religious institutions was seen when the comments by Ida Odinga, Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s wife, concerning the regulation of churches was met with great criticism and disdain by many Kenyans leading to her offering a public apology and withdrawing the statement.

The research network also noted that religion has the capability to shape how governance will be carried out once a new government is elected this coming August.

Following in second place was the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) with 66 percent of Kenyans stating their trust in the army.

Fewer than half of Kenyans express trust in the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC), National Assembly, Senate, governors, county assemblies, and the police.