The Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary has postponed public participation forums on the Draft Religious Organizations Policy, 2024 and the Draft Religious Organizations Bill, 2024 following widespread criticism from religious leaders and a section of members of the public.
In a public notice, the State Department for National Government Co-ordination had announced that the forums would be held across 12 regions between December 15 and December 19, 2025.
However, the event has now been postponed, signalling a halt to the planned engagements.
The forums were intended to collect public views on proposals aimed at regulating religious organizations, with the stated objective of addressing religious extremism and preventing abuse of freedom of religion and related purposes.
Venues had been scheduled in several counties, including Garissa, Eldoret, Isiolo, Nakuru, Mombasa, Machakos, Kisumu, Embu, Kilifi, Kakamega, Nairobi, and Nyeri.
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The postponement comes amid growing backlash, with critics arguing that the proposed policy and bill could infringe on constitutional freedoms, particularly freedom of worship, association, and belief.
The Draft Religious Organizations Policy, 2024 is a government policy framework developed to guide how religious organizations should operate within the country.
It was created by a Presidential Taskforce reviewing gaps in the legal regulation of faith-based groups.
According to the policy itself, its chief aims are to protect and promote freedom of religion, conscience, and belief, ensuring that individuals and groups can freely practice faith without discrimination.
It seeks to combat religious extremism and abuse of religious freedom by defining how authorities should respond when religion is misused to harm people.
It also sets up legal and institutional frameworks to support how religious organizations operate within the law and promotes good governance, transparency, and accountability in religious organizations.
On the other hand, the Draft Religious Organizations Bill, 2024 is a proposed piece of law intended to give legal force to the principles in the policy.
It was also drafted by the Presidential Taskforce and tabled in the Senate as part of efforts to reform the existing legal framework governing religious bodies.
The Bill’s stated purpose is to establish a comprehensive legal regime for the registration, oversight, and operation of religious organisations.
It aims to ensure transparency and accountability in activities including finances and governance, and to combat harmful practices such as exploitation, coercion, fraud, and manipulation under the guise of religion.
Several central measures have been reported from the draft including the establishment of a Religious Affairs Commission, which would be a statutory body to oversee religious organizations.
The Commission would register faith-based bodies, monitor compliance, receive returns, and govern standards of conduct.
All registered religious organisations would be required to submit annual financial returns and membership registers to the Commission.
The Bill also proposes penalties for exploitative conduct; leaders who make false representations, such as claimed miracles to extort money, could face heavy fines of up to Ksh5 million and imprisonment of up to 10 years.
Coercion or intimidation to recruit or retain followers could also attract fines or jail terms.
The Cabinet argued that both the policy and the Bill aim to protect Kenyans from exploitation and dangerous religious extremism, strengthen governance of faith institutions without curtailing legitimate religious freedom, and address gaps exposed by incidents such as the Shakahola tragedy.
"The model blends institutional autonomy with supportive oversight and calls for leadership standards, reforms to religious broadcasting, and civic education to promote tolerance and prevent extremism," the Cabinet Dispatch read.
However, opposition and concerns have emerged from some Christian and other faith leaders.
Critics argue that the Bill impinges on freedom of worship and the constitutional separation of religion and state.
They contend that establishing a Commission with state officials amounts to excessive government interference in church affairs, and that criminalising certain evangelism activities could curtail legitimate religious expression.
"The Constitution is clear that state and religion shall be separate. We wonder why the government is keen on regulating religious institutions while introducing punitive fines and jail terms.
"We strongly reject the proposals. We know that the same punitive fines and jail terms proposed in the Bill are the same ones introduced in the Computer and Cybercrime Act. The mention of some umbrella body and the formation of a commission in the Bill is suspect and discriminatory, and goes against our freedom of association. We don’t subscribe to them and they do not represent our views in any way," CCAK national chairperson Bishop Hudson Ndeda said.
