Belgut MP Koech: Ruto had a better chapel in Karen, no one complained
By Kenneth Mwenda, July 7, 2025Belgut MP Nelson Koech has come out in defence of President William Ruto’s controversial plan to construct a stone chapel at State House Nairobi, calling the backlash unfair and misplaced.
Speaking during a Monday morning interview in a local TV station, on July 7, 2025, the lawmaker reminded Kenyans that worship spaces have long existed at the residences of top state officials, including during Ruto’s tenure as Deputy President.
“This is not the first time. Even when the President was the Deputy, while in Karen, Mama Rachel had a chapel inside the compound. We used to go there and worship, and there was no problem,” said MP Koech. “It was far much better than the mabati [iron-sheet] structure that we saw going around online.”
Koech added that it was only reasonable for the Head of State to upgrade the small makeshift church at State House to something dignified.
“Now that the State House is looking better, you cannot have the Head of State having such a mabati building for worship,” he said.
Koech dismisses cost claims
He also dismissed reports that the project was worth over a billion shillings, describing such claims as misleading.
“The Constitution doesn’t say that a president must be an atheist. We have a God-fearing president, a leader who wants to pray, and that’s all he’s saying,” Koech added. “The Ksh1.2 billion figure being shared is from the media, it’s not true. If I personally feel like improving my church today, it doesn’t have to be public knowledge what I’m offering to my Lord.”
The comments come amid ongoing national debate sparked by revelations that millions has already been spent on State House and lodge renovations under President Ruto’s administration.
President Ruto recently clarified that the chapel is not a new initiative, but one he found already in place, a modest iron-sheet structure serving families and Sunday school classes inside the compound. He said his only role was to upgrade it to a permanent stone building that can seat about 300 people.
“Let us stop spreading cheap talk and hatred. Why are some people so bitter about a church built for the worship of God?” Ruto asked during the Embu service.
Ruto also dismissed claims that the church would cost over Ksh1 billion, calling the reports “propaganda” and “cheap politics.” He quoted Haggai 1:4, saying he felt spiritually obligated to build a proper house for God within the grounds of a residence that has already received major structural upgrades.
His sentiments were echoed by other leaders like Homa Bay MP George Kaluma, who urged the President to ignore atheistic voices and “build the church.”