Malava Member of Parliament Malulu Injendi on Sunday, November 24, criticised the top leadership of the Catholic Church in Kenya, following the rejection of the Ksh5.8 million donation from President William Ruto and Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja.
Speaking during an interdenominational prayer in Kericho County, the lawmaker called out the top brass of the Catholic Church in Kenya over the rejection of Ruto’s gift.
The lawmaker further asked for forgiveness from the President on behalf of the Church while maintaining that it was a shame for the Nairobi Archdiocese leadership to reject the President’s donations.
''We were ashamed and I would like to appeal to our bishops that you cannot do what you did to the President. May God forgive and bless you,’’ Injendi stated.
According to the lawmaker, it was not right for the Catholic Church to reject the donations from the President even though it still had a lot of financial needs and challenges that it still had not addressed.
''As you can see, I have my rosary on and that means that I am a Catholic. Mr President, we have a lot of requirements and needs as Catholics including buildings and other things,’’ he added.
The Amani National Congress(ANC) lawmaker further alleged that the financial assistance that the Catholic Church used to get from its headquarters in Rome, Italy, had since stopped therefore making it hard for the believers to fundraise on their own.
Injendi’s sentiments are likely to generate a lot of criticism from the church leadership, especially on the allegations that it no longer receives financial aid from its headquarters.
''The help and assistance we used to get from abroad, we no longer do not get it. It is these believers who instead bear the brunt. We were surprised after taking you on a tour of our church, it is a shame that you sacrificed your salary only for our bishops to sit and do what they did,’’ the lawmaker added.
Injendi was responding to a rejection where Ruto, during a church service on Sunday, November 17, donated Ksh600,000 to Soweto Catholic church in Nairobi for choir members and Ksh2 million that would have been used to construct a priest’s house.
The Head of State further promised to donate an additional Ksh3 million that would be channeled to the church’s account to purchase a church bus. During the event, Governor Sakaja donated Ksh200,000 to the same church.
However, Bishop Philip Anyolo of the Nairobi Archdiocese later released a harsh-toned statement announcing that the donations would not be accepted.
“These funds will be refunded to the respective donors. Furthermore, the promised additional Ksh3 million for the construction of the Fathers' house and the donation of a parish bus by the President is now declined,” Bishop Anyolo.
Bishop Anyolo noted that the donations made by the two senior government officials contravened the Public Fundraising Appeals Bill 2024 which states that any person who solicits or receives money or a benefit conducts a fundraising appeal regardless of whether the representation made was direct or indirect.
