AG Oduor disowns Bill seeking to tax churches

By Peter Ochieng

Attorney General (AG) Dorcas Oduor has distanced the State from the Religious Organisation Bill, 2024.

The Bill, sponsored by Tana River Senator Danston Buya Mungatana, provides a regulatory framework for registration of churches, and punitive measures against rogue individuals abusing various platforms and misleading congregations towards extremism.

In response, Oduor said the State has nothing to do with the contentious Bill. As a privately sponsored Bill, she added, the proposed piece of legislation reflects the independent views of Mungatana.

“It is hereby clarified that the Religious Organizations Bill, 2024, is a privately sponsored Bill brought forth by Senator Danston Mungatana, in accordance with Part XXI of the Senate Standing Orders, and as such, the government is not the sponsor nor driver of the proposed legislation,” she stated.

Mungatana’s Bill seeks to introduce taxes on income, gifts, or profits generated from church. “The revenues would only be exempt from taxation if they are entirely allocated to charitable causes,” the Bill states in part.

The Bill originated from recommendations in the Senate Select Committee report which was formed in the wake of the Shakahola calamity, where over 400 people died after being “brainwashed into taking a fast to death to meet Jesus.”

Embattled Pastor Paul Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International ‘Church’ is among over 90 suspects currently in custody, following the ordeal.

The Mungatana Bill proposes a fine of Sh5 million, three years in jail, or both for any religious leader who operates an unregistered organisation.

The Bill has been opposed by several religious organisations, terming it punitive.

The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK) and the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), have separately called for the withdrawal of the Bill, to facilitate stakeholder consultation by the clergy and members of the public.