Reuben Kigame: I would not allow construction of church at State House
By Cynthia Lodite, September 4, 2025Presidential candidate and gospel artist Reuben Kigame has publicly declared that, given a chance to lead Kenya, he will never build a church at State House, contrary to the current President William Ruto’s State House Church plan.
Kigame made his remarks on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, during an interview with a local media house, where he argued that economically as well as in terms of Christianity, it is wrong to build a church since a head of state is not the country’s bishop.
“No, because in principle it is wrong, economically it is wrong, in terms of policy it is wrong, and in terms even of Christianity itself it is wrong, because the president is not the bishop of a country, and State House is not the religious centre of a country,” Kigame said.
On his part, the 5th and now the 6th presidential candidate questioned Ruto’s proposal to build a church as a Christian while also questioning other religions.
“So today, if he (Ruto) builds a church, and tomorrow we get a president that is a Hindu, do we pull down the church and build a Hindu temple? Tomorrow, if we get a Muslim president, do we pull down the church and build a mosque?” Kigame stated.
Kigame’s constitution proposal
Kigame also added, “Article 8 clearly says that state and religion are separate.”
According to Kigame, he revealed that back in 2010, the gospel artist made a proposal that said that nobody has the right to use religion to oppress and maim others, which, according to the gospel artist, was ignored then.
“In 2010 I made that proposal; the guys just ignored it. Now we have this, and I teach on cults and the occult and stuff like that; it’s serious. So I would like religion to be given its status and allow people to worship freely,” Kigame said.
He further noted, “If you go next door, like in Malawi, you know, President Lazarus Chakwera was a bishop of the Assemblies of God,” he said.
Also added, “You’ve never seen Chakwera going to say, let’s build an Assemblies of God cathedral. You know, so this is not actually right, because the Ksh1.2 billion, whether it is our taxes or donations, should also have the logic of meeting real felt needs,” Kigame noted.