A new bill has been introduced to curb rampant religious cult and brainwashing innocent congregants in kenya.
With the rapid rise of the new churches in every corner , many Kenyans have been exposed to radical teaching and the unfortunate ones have ended up losing millions of properties while others are paying the ultimate price. For instance , the Shakahola massacre is currently the biggest religious cult in Kenya where hundreds of bodies were retrieved from shallow graves in a vast land in Kilifi that was under church under pastor Mackenzie.
The Draft Religious Organisations Bill and to bring order in the faith sector by proposing a number of measures.
Individuals who will be found guilty of staging fake miracles in order to extort unsuspecting congregants will fece ten years in prison or a fine of 5 million shillings.
For coercing followers to perform haarmful acts,perpetrators will fece up to twenty years behind bars.
The bill also proposes that churches and religious leaders be barred from engaging in politics. Violation of this attracts a penalty of improvement for 6 months or half a million fine.
These proposals will be enfosed by a creation of a religious affairs commission. This is the proposal to create it will be embraced. Apart from registering and monitoring faith-based groups,the commison will come up with a code of conduct for religious leaders to ensure their message is acceptable.
Regulation of churches in Kenya is a very sensitive topic that needs to be approached with great wisdom. The bill might have good intentions but maybe public participation and engaging stakeholders will help the bill pass with ease.
