Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s wife, Ida Odinga, has apologized for her statement over closure of churches but not before angry Kenyans demonstrated their anger.

Ida withdrew the sentiments she made in Kisumu during an NCCK event at the weekend saying they were blown out of proportion.

“I wish to this morning withdraw the statement I made to NCCK to regulate the churches under them in order to promote consistency and relevance in messaging for promotion of evangelism in Kenya,” she said in a statement.

Earlier, Mrs. Odinga asked the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) to abolish some churches that are not run by trained theologians. Speaking on Sunday, January 30, during the launch of the Christian Book by Archbishop Emeritus Habbakuk Abogno, Ida said that many small churches had cropped up in the past few years, adding that they were not effective because their leaders had not been trained.

She stated that some church leaders were just reading scriptures as they are written in the Bible instead of interpreting it for their congregants.

According to her, some Christian institutions have been set up to make money while using God’s name instead of bringing people closer to God.

“We want Kenyans to subscribe to religions that are formally registered and not those whose belief systems are commodified. It is also important that we conduct training for all those who minister the word of God,” Ida remarked.

In 2016, President Uhuru directed the Attorney General to hold consultation with religious leaders noting that rogue preachers were exploiting Kenyans. 

“We have a few people whose work is to illegally obtain money from citizens. Their false message to citizens is that they are spreading the gospel or the word of God. But they enrich themselves from the sweat of their citizens,” the President remarked.

In 2019, Kangema MP Muturi Kigano tabled a proposal at the National Assembly aimed at weeding out rogue pastors and churches but was met with a lot of resistance by religious leaders.

One of the proposals in Kigano’s Bill was that churches should have an umbrella regulatory body with the actual location they intend to operate from and details of their leaderships.

He also suggested that the church’s leadership should not consist of family members and sought to set the minimum qualification for one to practice as a pastor.