Kenya’s secularism put to test

Kenya has a long history of civic activism, with citizens raising their voice to hold public officials accountable. Now, concerned Kenyans are calling for their government to abide by the constitution’s mandate to separate religion and state, as President Ruto moves ahead with a plan to build a church at State House.

SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | Religious leaders and atheists are demanding the government to uphold the principle of secularism, as enshrined in Kenya’s constitution. The calls are being made in direct opposition of the recently-announced proposal for a church to be built within the grounds of the State House.

“It is our position that the construction of the said-church violates various Articles of our Constitution and threatens the separation of Church and State,” reads a letter released this month and signed by Harrison Mumia, president of the Atheists in Kenya Society.

When Kenya gained independence in 1963, it adopted a constitution that established a secular state, with no single religion accorded official status.

“There shall be no state religion,” declares Article 8 of the Kenyan Constitution, tucked under Chapter Two.

This constitutional safeguard bars the government from adopting or favoring any religion, ensuring equal religious freedoms and protections for all citizens, regardless of faith.

That clarity is now being put to the test.

President William Ruto, a self-declared evangelical Christian, is spearheading the multi-million-dollar church project, declaring that he will fund it with his own means. When faced with heavy backlash, he later suggested that the new construction is an upgrade of an existing house of worship.

Nonetheless, the move has sparked a national debate and set the stage for a potential legal and political clash over where personal belief ends and constitutional duty begins.

Opposers argue that placing a church at the nation’s eminent symbol of governance, the State House, undermines the spirit of Article 8.

Whereas, Muslim leaders have called for equal treatment, urging the construction of a mosque as well.

The greater fear is the use of religion as a political tool.

Kenya’s population is overwhelmingly Christian, with over 85% of the 50 million people identifying with the faith. Muslims make up around 11%, while followers of other religions comprise the remainder.

Alongside religious devotees, there is a growing atheist population. While Kenya’s atheists put their numbers at near 1.5 million, a 2019 census recorded 775,750.

The Atheists in Kenya Society (AIK) seeks proof that public resources are not being used for the project. They also demand confirmation that there will be an equivalent facility at State House where atheists or non-religious individuals can gather, in line with the principles of equality and non-discrimination.

“What is the intended purpose of the church once it is completed?” Mumia asked in the letter.

AIK warned that if the Office of the President fails to respond to their letter within 14 days, the organization will initiate legal action.

Initial reports put the cost of the 8,000-seater church at $9.29 million USD (Ksh. 1.2 billion).

Kenyan President has disputed the figure, putting it closer to a budget of between $154,894 USD (Ksh. 20 million) and $232,359 USD (Ksh. 30 million).

“In Haggai 1:4, god is asking, ‘you are living in well-furnished houses and the house of god is in bad shape.’ If I meet god and he asks me that question, how do you want me to answer that question?” President Ruto said to a congregation while speaking on the pulpit at a recent service to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Anglican Church diocese in Embu, a town 125 km northeast of Nairobi.

State House chaplain, Benard Njagi recently told the media that he was among a team who approached President Ruto for the construction of the church since the current worship centre, referred to as the _mabati _(iron-sheet) chapel, is in a dilapidated state. The small structure sits within the State House to serve Christian public officials and their families. Its origins go back to the early 2000s. Whether or not the new structure will replace the old one has not been publicly confirmed.

Njagi said his proposal to the President was the construction of a Catholic sanctuary, an interdenominational Protestant sanctuary and a mosque — all existing, but in poor condition.

Kenya’s version of secularism has never been anti-religious, with religion remaining deeply woven into the country’s political and public fabric.

Religion features prominently in key state functions and even Kenya’s national anthem begins with a prayerful invocation of, “Oh God of all creation.”

In Parliament, every session opens with prayers led by invited religious leaders.

During swearing-in ceremonies, presidents, MPs, judges, and senior government officials traditionally hold either the Bible or the Quran, affirming their oaths with the phrase, “so help me God.”

Under Kenya’s founding president Jomo Kenyatta, religion played a largely supportive role in the new nation’s development, particularly in health and education development, and clerics were regularly invited to national celebrations and official events.

Kenya’s second and longest serving president, the late Daniel arap Moi openly used religion as a political tool, cultivating an image of devout leadership, regularly attending church and ensuring those moments were broadcast on state television.

Moi owed his education to the African Inland Mission School and supported the construction of Milimani Africa Inland Church, which stands less than a kilometer from the State House gate.

As a result of Moi’s personal convictions and style, religion became increasingly visible and influential in the political arena, a trend that has shaped Kenya’s political culture beyond his tenure.

Mumia told bird in an interview that while Kenyans have the right to practice any religion, the preferential treatment given to religious institutions and leaders by the state is problematic.

“We want religious privilege to end. We are actually protecting what the constitution says. We don’t want to erase religion. We just don’t want any religion to be favored, including atheism,” he said.

Mumia also criticized the practice of involving only religious leaders in state consultations and national decision-making processes.

“We should not be having the president inviting only religious people to make decisions for other Kenyans in meetings. The state should not manage its affairs or advance any policies that are aligned to religion or that are religious in nature,” he argued.

Two years ago, the current president, William Ruto appealed to churches to win the election, largely on Christian votes.

However, he has lately fallen out with religious leaders due to his unpopular policies and governance tactics.

His latest project has widened the rift with religious leaders rebuking most of his actions including the shoot-to-kill orders; hiking of taxes and levies; flamboyant fundraising events in churches by politicians, known as harambees; and even the new State House church proposal.

Anglican Arch Bishop Jackson Ole Sapit questioned the ownership of the church and who would lead it.

A number of legislators have also raised their voices and concerns against Ruto’s church project.

Dr. Boni Khalwale, a senator, said in a social media post, “The Constitution provides that there shall be no state religion. State House should mirror this constitutional religious neutrality.”

Busia County Senator Okiya Omtata raised serious allegations accusing President Ruto of misleading the public about the source of funding, affirming taxpayers are the ones footing the bill of putting up the multi-billion Kenya shillings church.

Omtata claimed to have a trail of US$ 23.2 million (Ksh. 3 billion) allegedly sneaked into the state house budget through supplementary allocations, despite the initial budget having been slashed to just US$ 77,447 (Ksh.10 million) after pressure from Gen-Z protests last year.

“We have gotten to the point whereby the tail will no longer work the dog. The dog will work the tail. The people of Kenya are the power. The people of Kenya are the sovereign, not the president,” said Omtata.

Controversial religious construction projects undertaken by presidents is not unique to Kenya.

Among the latest is the construction of a national cathedral in Ghana, valued at $400 million USD and initiated by Ghana’s former President Nana Akufo-Addo as a gesture of gratitude following his party’s 2016 election victory, which brought him into power.

In January, Ghana’s current president, John Mahama, said that the project will be investigated, following mounting pressure on authorities to drop it after $58 million USD of tax payers money had already reportedly been spent on the cathedral.

In 2024, Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika inaugurated the Grand Mosque of Algiers, whose construction begun in 2012. The $900 million USD project is now the largest mosque in Africa, the third-largest globally with a capacity to hold 1,200 people. Critics have dismissed the mosque as a vanity project by the former president, alleging he even attempted to have it named in his own honor.

Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema also inaugurated the publicly funded Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, the largest religious building in Central Africa and the second largest Catholic church throughout Africa, modeled after St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Use of public funds for the project drew criticism when the country was grappling with widespread human rights violations and persistent corruption allegations.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Mobutu Sese Seko built the Chapelle de la Miséricorde, a vast chapel at his private palace in Gbadolite.

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SOURCE: By Conrad Onyango, bird story agency