Deputy President William Ruto on Sunday, October 25, hit out at the government specifically the National Security Advisory Committee's (NSAC) for restricting public gatherings.
Ruto was speaking to residents of Matungu in a church service at Our Lady of Assumption, Indangalasia Catholic Church, Kakamega county.
"We will not accept the restriction of church services in the country, worship should not be restricted in any way. You cannot be restricted to worship, hold prayer meetings until someone issues a go-ahead.
"That is not possible, I want to tell those who think our constitutional right to worship God in the manner that we please is going to be conditioned in permission from whoever," he said.
Ruto was in a defiant mood as he added that he will attend church services without seeking permission from the relevant authorities.
The Deputy President noted that he does not attend church services because of the restrictions imposed but due to him being God-fearing.
The Jubilee Deputy Party Leader also took on government officials for undermining the constitutional rights on freedom of worship.
"I want to remind government officials, the Jubilee government was formed after prayers for I and Uhuru, we cannot be the same government announcing restrictions on worship.
"I want to ask public officers, to keep off matters of worship because they are not negotiable, we cannot negotiate on matters to do with worship with anybody or any law," he added.
This comes after NSAC on Wednesday, October 7 announced that politicians intending to hold public meetings and gatherings would be required to notify the area Officer Commanding Station (OCS), three days prior to the visit.
Head of Public Service Joshua Kinyua added that conveners of the meetings would be required to obey orders given to them by the OCSs.
Ruto's visit to Our Lady of Assumption, Indangalasia Catholic Church was supposed to be held back in March but was postponed after the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country. It was again pushed forward on Sunday, October 11 after police failed to give it the go-ahead.
{"preview_thumbnail":"/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/2NEu-Fn5pps.jpg?itok=JDrB0qu6","video_url":"","settings":{"responsive":1,"width":"854","height":"480","autoplay":0},"settings_summary":["Embedded Video (Responsive)."]}
