Church leaders oppose Education Bill

Church leaders have opposed the Basic Education Bill saying it does not recognise their role in education.

If passed and enacted, the Bill could also result to loss of church land where various schools stand, the leaders led by Kenya Episcopal Conference chairman John Njue said Thursday.

“The Church shall continue to assert its rightful position with all that it appertains to her responsibility as sponsors in various schools.

"Above all, the church will not surrender its land on which our schools are built to the government under any condition,” Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Eliud Wabukhala said.

In a statement, Cardinal Njue and the Rev Wabukhala called on MPs to uphold the letter and spirit of the Constitution while debating Bills.

“We are perturbed with the way in which the new Constitution is being implemented by the current Parliament.

"We wish to state that the wish of Kenyans to have a new Constitution that protects the common good is upheld,” the leaders said in the statement, also signed by Rev Stephen Kanyaru, the Presiding Bishop of Methodist Church in Kenya.

Others who signed the statement are the Rt Rev David Riitho Gathanju who is the moderator of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church of East African and National Council of Churches of Kenya representative, Rev Charles Kibicho.

Fair representation

The churches are especially unhappy with the composition of the National Education Board and land ownership of schools as contained in Basic Education Bill.

As sponsors of about a third of schools in Kenya, the churches said they should have fair representation in the selection panel.

The church leaders said the composition of the county education boards makes unclear reference to representation of the religious sponsors.

They also said the board does not take into account the church's massive investment in education. The leaders said most of the church-sponsored schools are on land owned by the church or held in trust by the church for the community.

They demanded that the Bill must ensure ownership rights of religious sponsors are recognised and respected as per the Constitution.

Quick solution

On Thursday, the church leaders further called for a quick solution to the teachers, university lecturers and doctors’ strike.

“The Government should urgently and decisively implement a workable back to work formula for teachers, lecturers and doctors to ensure that the basic rights of children to education, as well as those of workers to a fair wage; and of Kenyans to basic health care are not in any way violated in the ongoing strikes,” Cardinal Njue said.

The leaders urged the government to also negotiate with the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) to avert the looming strike of workers over the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) new rates.

The clerics petitioned the government to beef up security countrywide to avert further skirmishes like the one witnessed in the Tana Delta that left more than 100 people dead and thousands displaced.

Separately, African Inland Church Bishop Silas Yego said the government should ensure security countrywide as the electioneering period starts.

Bishop Yego welcomed the government’s move to deploy the General Service Unit to Tana Delta but said the move came too late.

“The government should put in place machinery to detect insecurity incidents in advance. Security matters are of high importance to the nation and should not be taken for granted," he said.