Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has defended the government’s move to weed out rogue religious groups, saying this should not be seen as a way of hurting or interfering with the operation of churches.
This as the the Senate last month formed an Ad-hoc committee to propose laws aimed at bringing sanity to religious institutions. This led to the formation of the 11-member committee to investigate circumstances leading to the death of followers of the Good News International Church in Kilifi pastored by Paul Mackenzie.
“The church is a reflection of society and in society, there are two or more people who do the wrong things and those people must be isolated and action taken against them in their individual capacity,” said DP Gachagua.
Speaking at Full Gospel Church at Matangi , Juja Constituency during the funeral service for the late John Ndung’u, father to Juja MP George Koimburi, the DP however, maintained that rogue clerics must and will be weeded out from the public to protect gullible Kenyans from exploitation and being brainwashed.
The Deputy President who defended the church as a crucial pillar in the society insisted that the happenings at Shakahola forest in Kilifi County are a small issue that should not be taken as an activity that happens in all religious institutions.
“Our pastors are good people 99.9 per cent. Allow the government to weed out the 0.1 per cent giving the church of Christ a bad name, ” Gachagua said.
This comes as 29 more bodies have been exhumed today at the Shakahola Forest as the tally hits 179/ Police say they have arrested 25 people in connection with the deadly starvation cult .
The Deputy President, who represented President William Ruto at the funeral, condoled with the family of the Juja MP, describing their late father as an industrious man and a respected community elder who stood for family values.