‘Reopen churches we will organize ourselves,’ clergy tells government - KBC

The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops(KCCB) has called upon the government to reopen places of worship.

Bishop Anthony Ireri who spoke on behalf of KCCB said it is high time the government considers reopening churches. He said the church will organize itself in a way that ensures Covid 19 does not spread among congregants.

“We urge the government to give us the opportunity to reopen churches, we will organize ourselves.” Ireri said

“Even before Covid 19 got into the country we had received guidelines from the Vatican, we are able to guide ourselves,” he stated.

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This comes at a time when the inter faith council led by Archbishop Antony Muheria is set to release guidelines on reopening of churches in the coming week.

The Council has been holding consultative meetings to allow for safe phased reopening of churches.

“The Council has received presentations by various religious groups and interested persons. We are open to receive any submissions from organized religious groups who can get in touch with our secretariat,” Muheria said in a statement.

“We invite the public to participate in this process by inviting feedback through sending a memorandum to the council through its email address [email protected] to reach the Council by July 2, 2020,” he said

It has been four months since President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered for the closure of places of worship to curb the spread of Covid 19. However, the number of infections have continued to grow exponentially.

Kenya now has 5,811 Covid 19 cases and the number is expected to rise according to the Ministry of Health

The members of the Inter-Faith Council are;

The full list of members of the council are:
1. Most (Rev.) Archbishop Anthony Muheria – Chairperson Nyeri Catholic Archdiocese
2. Rt. (Rev.) John Obala Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB)
3. Rt. (Rev.) Joseph Obanyi Bishop of Kakamega
4. Rt. (Rev.) Julius Mwamba Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA)
5. Rev. (Can.) Chris Kamau Kinyanjui National Council of Churches of Kenya
6. Rev. (Can.) Rosemary Mbogo Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK)
7. Pastor (Dr.) Samuel Makori Eastern Union Seventh Day Adventist Church
8. Al Hajj Hassan Ole Naado Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM)
9. Sheikh Sukyan Hassan Omar Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM)
10. Sheikh Abdulatif Abdulkarim Kenya Council of Imams and Ulamaas (KCIU)
11. Rev. (Fr.) Joseph Mutie Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC)
12. Bishop (Dr.) David Oginde Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, Christ is The Answer Ministries
13. Rev. Connie Kivuti Evangelical Alliance of Kenya
14. Sujata Kotamraju Hindu Council of Kenya
15. Rt. Rev. (Dr.) Samuel Thiong’o Mwangi General Conference of Akorino Churches Assembly
16. Sheikh Ali Saidi Samojah Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat, Lavington Mosque

Others include; Dr Kepha Ombacho, Dr.Franacis Kuria Kagema, and Paul Famba who serve as Joint Secretaries in the Council.