This archive report was first published on 12 June 2020.
On June 12, 2020, Kenya's Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi and Health counterpart Mutahi Kagwe jointly appointed an Inter-Religious Council to review the reopening of churches in the country.
The council, chaired by Catholic Archbishop Anthony Muheria, was mandated to develop stringent protocols for a phased reopening of places of worship under the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to CS Matiangi, the council was appointed to guide the development of protocols that will allow a more participatory mode of worship under the pandemic.
The Inter-Religious Faith Council includes Bishop John Obala (KCCB), Bishop Joseph Obanyi, Rev. Moderator Julius Mwamba (PCEA), Canon Chris Kamau Kinyanjui (NCCK), Canon Rosemary Mbogo (ACK), Samuel Makori and Al Hajj Hassan Ole Naado (SUPKEM), among others.
The council has also been tasked to come up with protocols for the celebration of weddings and other religious ceremonies in the places of worship under social distancing guidelines.
They will file a report to President Uhuru Kenyatta, through the National and County Government’s coordinating summit.
President Kenyatta had on June 1 directed the ministries of interior and health to hasten talks with religious leaders on how best places of worship can be re-opened amid the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
