SW News: CitizenGo, an International Catholic activist organization, has urged Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to revoke the ban on new churches’ registration in the country. Since 2014, this ban has been in place in the East African nation.

In a petition dated February 7, the African branch of CitizenGo said that the President has failed to keep his word of revoking the ban, which he had promised in 2017 while seeking a second term. “Please stop using your government to stifle religious freedom in Kenya, order with immediate effect the resumption of registration of churches in Kenya,” demanded CitizenGo Africa. Pointing out that the state of “religious freedom in Kenya is at stake,” the organization called on the President, who has only a few months left to finish his term, to lift the ban “as soon as possible.”

Justifying the ban, Attorney General (AG) said that it was imposed after “several reports indicating the officials of several religious institutions and societies of orchestrating certain unconscionable activities that left their congregants at a disadvantage.”

In Kenya, over 85 per cent of the population identify themselves as Christians, of which 20.6% are Catholics.