President William Ruto’s chief advisor in the council of economic advisors Moses Kuria has thrown his weight behind the Catholic bishops who castigated the government for failing Kenyans.
In a statement on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, Kuria said that as a practising member who was born and raised in the church, the institution was right.
“My two rules as a Roman Catholic who has gone through the Catechism process from Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Altar Boy to confirmation (As Francis) by the late Michael Cardinal Otunga of Kibabii. Rule Number 1- The Catholic Church is always right. Rule Number 2- In case the Catholic Church is wrong refer to Rule Number 1,” Kuria said.
The statements come after the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) issued a statement on Thursday, November 14, 2024, castigating Ruto’s administration for what they called entrenching the culture of lies in the country.
Catholic bishops’ issues
The bishops went ahead to speak to a host of issues affecting Kenyans including abductions, femicide, police brutality, over-taxation, rushed implementation of the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), pending bills and the political climate in the country.
The statement was followed by a flurry of coordinated responses from the administration’s sympathisers and leaders who claimed that the bishops were overstepping their mandate.
On Monday, November 18, 2024, Deputy Speaker in the National Assembly Gladys Shollei said the bishops had bad manners for addressing Ruto through a press conference instead of obtaining an appointment at the State House.
Similarly, the Deputy leader of the majority party in the National Assembly Owen Baya, on Friday, November 15, 2024, said that the bishops were out of order, claiming that their anger stemmed from the impeachment of the former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua.
The backlash came to a head when the Catholic bishops rejected money which the president had donated towards the building of the priest’s house. The Catholic church encouraged all its spiritual leaders to refrain from obtaining money which could compromise their independence.
“These funds will be refunded to the respective donors. Furthermore, the promised additional Sh3 million for the construction of the Fathers’ house, as well as the donation of a parish bus by the President, are hereby declined,” Metropolitan Archbishop of Nairobi Philip Anyolo noted in the statement on behalf of the bishops.
The Anglican and the Pentecostal churches have so far sided with the Catholic bishops, noting that no amount of intimidation would silence the voice of the church.
