Africa-Press – Kenya. Several legislators have hit back at catholic bishops for accusing President William Ruto’s government of a spate of issues including rampant corruption and allegedly using the state machinery to silence critics.
The Chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), Archbishop Maurice Muhatia on Thursday, November 14, led bishops in calling out the Kenya Kwanza regime for broken promises and failing to listen to Kenyans’ grievances.
“The culture of lies is swiftly replacing the integrity and respect that Kenyans deserve. It seems that truth does not exist, and if it does, it is only what the government says,” Archibishop Muhatia stated.
He added, “Unfortunately, it seems that the Kenyans have helplessly tolerated the lies told to them constantly by the politicians. Kenyans must learn not to applaud or validate the lies that the politicians tell them, but rather must resolve to seek and be led by the truth.”
Archibishop Muhatia’s sentiments were instantly followed by harsh rebuttals from some MPs online, who challenged the religious leaders to validate their accusations.
Kikuyu Member of Parliament Kimani Ichung’wah, a staunch supporter of William Ruto, was particularly critical of the archbishop’s sentiments as he accused the religious leaders of pushing a political agenda.
“Let us all be honest. If you have any information on corrupt legislators, please furnish us with the information to investigate agencies or just name them and shame them,” Ichungwa stated adding, “The drafter of this statement is portraying you either as liars or as politically partisan people seeking to play to a political gallery.”
Majority Leader in the Senate, Aaron Cheruiyot, also joined Ichung’wah in criticising the religious leaders’ statement taking a focus on the bishop’s criticism of the controversial bill presented by Senator Samson Cherargei seeking to extend presidential terms from five to seven years.
“The Bill the Catholic Bishops are referring to was rejected by Senate’s Justice Committee a long time ago. It died before seeing the light of day,” the Senator said as he also defended the government for reducing the debt burden.
Like Ichung’wah, the Senator also strongly suggested that the religious leaders’ statement was politically motivated.
Meanwhile, Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi took aim at Archbishop Anthony Muheria, who he accused of “preaching the gospel on one hand and fanning tribalism on the other hand”.
“The cleric is on record for backing the past regime even when it was clear it had failed Kenyans and must be bold enough to steer away from tribal politics,” Sudi alleged.
While addressing journalists on Thursday, KCCB also criticised the government over the violation of human rights such as denial of the freedom of speech, singling out the government’s failure to resolve the recurrent cases of abductions forced disappearances, and extra-judicial killings.
On the question of the introduction of the Tax Amendment Bill 2024, the church accused the government of trying to re-introduce the controversial Finance Bill.
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