The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) on Thursday expressed its displeasure with the government’s decision to increase permit charges for missionaries.
According to the bishops, the government has allegedly hiked the taxes from the initial Ksh15,000 to a whooping Ksh150,000.
While addressing the press in Karen, Nairobi during the Bishops’ Plenary Assembly, the bishops urged the government to reconsider its take on the levy and scrap it off.
The bishops termed the move as unethical and that the decision showed a lack of gratitude by the government.
“We as a country should be showing gratitude and appreciation. So giving waivers to priests, religious men and women and other social missionary volunteers come to complement our social engagement,” read part of a statement by the KCCB.
In its statement, KCCB also accused the government of its failure to honour the Ksh2 billion debt it owed to church-run health facilities.
The bishops noted that the government's move not to clear the debt had immensely hampered the activities of the church-owned hospitals, and thus demanded immediate response.
Meanwhile, the bishops also called for an immediate end to the doctors' strike and urged the striking medical officers to put patients first.
According to KCCB, doctors must avoid using patients as bargaining chips and instead find better means of settling its stalemate with the government.
"We urge the government on one hand, and the doctors on the other hand to seek a working arrangement that does not put the lives of patients at risk so that lives are not lost," KCCB noted.
KCCB noted that despite its efforts to work collaboratively with the government, it had noticed a change in the dynamics of the government's relationship with the Catholic church.
"We are concerned about the government's deliberate intent to reduce and undermine the role of the Catholic church and indeed all faiths," KCCB noted.
