{"id":253029,"date":"2024-11-19T21:01:57","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T21:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/19\/catholic-church-rejects-40000-from-kenyas-president-2\/"},"modified":"2024-11-19T21:01:57","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T21:01:57","slug":"catholic-church-rejects-40000-from-kenyas-president-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/19\/catholic-church-rejects-40000-from-kenyas-president-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic Church rejects $40,000 from Kenya’s president"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kenya\u2019s Catholic Church has rejected a donation of about $40,000 (\u00a332,000) made by President William Ruto.<\/p>\n

He offered the money towards the building of a priest\u2019s house and as a gift to the choir during Mass on Sunday at the Soweto Catholic Church in the capital, Nairobi.<\/p>\n

The donation followed a recent statement by Catholic bishops, who had hit out at the government for failing to fulfil their electoral promises.<\/p>\n

Churches have been under pressure this year from young anti-tax protesters who have accused them of being too close to politicians.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Following Ruto\u2019s much-publicised donation on Sunday, many Kenyans urged the Catholic Church to reject the money.<\/p>\n

The president had given around 2.6m Kenyan shillings ($20,000, \u00a316,000) in cash, pledged the rest of the money later and also promised to give the parish a bus.<\/p>\n

The Catholic Archbishop of Nairobi, Philip Anyolo, said the cash would be returned over \u201cethical concerns and the need to safeguard the Church from being used for political purposes\u201d.<\/p>\n

He also declined his other pledges and said a donation of 200,000 Kenyan shillings made by the Governor of Nairobi, Johnson Sakaja \u2013 who attended the same service, was also being handed back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Catholic Church strongly discourages the use of church events such as fundraisers and gatherings as platforms for political self-promotion,\u201d Archbishop Anyolo said.<\/p>\n

Such donations were in breach of the church directives as well as the Kenyan law, he added.<\/p>\n

The long ties between churches and political institutions \u2013 in a country where more than 80% of the population are Christian \u2013 seem to be fraying.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, established churches banned politicians from using the pulpit during services in return for donations.<\/p>\n

But the relationship was still perceived to be close \u2013 with young demonstrators accusing the churches of siding with the government when it decided to impose new taxes earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Under the social media hashtag #OccupyChurch, many hit out at the churches for failing to take their side during the deadly protests that erupted in response to the planned tax hikes.<\/p>\n

The uproar forced President\u2019s Ruto\u2019s government to withdraw the controversial finance bill in July.<\/p>\n

Then last week, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops \u2013 which represents all Catholic bishops in the country \u2013 accused the government of perpetuating a \u201cculture of lies\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a scathing statement, it also raised issues about over-taxation, corruption, violation of human rights, freedom of speech, unemployment as well as a \u201ccrumbling\u201d education system and healthcare services.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the calmness we are experiencing, there is a lot of anxiety and most people are losing trust in the government,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

In response, President Ruto appeared to hit back at the clergy, saying \u201cwe must be careful to give factual information lest we become victims of the things we accuse others of doing\u201d.<\/p>\n

A senator allied to the government, Aaron Cheruiyot, also accused the church of \u201cmisinformation\u201d, adding that the \u201cclergy must avoid being purveyors of propaganda, fake news and falsehoods\u201d.<\/p>\n

Many of Kenya\u2019s Christians are Catholic \u2013 estimated to number 10 million, about 20% of the population, according to government statistics.<\/p>\n

Other Christians belong to a variety of evangelical churches and other denominations, including the Anglican Church of Kenya \u2013 which has defended the Catholic Church\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

Anglican Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit said the Catholic bishops had reflected the feelings of many Kenyans.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalling church leaders names or dismissing the bishops\u2019 statement as \u2018misleading, erroneous and false,\u2019 is itself dishonest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [Catholic] bishops have spoken the minds of Kenyans and faithfully expressed the truth as things are on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: BBC<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kenya\u2019s Catholic Church has rejected a donation of about $40,000 (\u00a332,000) made by President William Ruto. He offered the money towards the building of a priest\u2019s house and as a gift to the choir during Mass on Sunday at the Soweto Catholic Church in the capital, Nairobi. The donation followed a recent statement by Catholic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":253030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\nCatholic Church rejects $40,000 from Kenya's president - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/19\/catholic-church-rejects-40000-from-kenyas-president-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Catholic Church rejects $40,000 from Kenya's president - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kenya\u2019s Catholic Church has rejected a donation of about $40,000 (\u00a332,000) made by President William Ruto. 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