NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — In a growing split between church leaders and Kenya’s government, two prominent churches have rejected President William Ruto’s personal donations, saying the cash challenges their independence and undermines the public’s view of their integrity.
On Nov. 18, Catholic Archbishop Philip Subira Anyolo of Nairobi ordered the city’s Sts. Joachim and Ann Church to decline 5 million Kenyan shillings ($40,000) that Ruto had offered the previous day. A week later, the Anglican Church turned down a 5 million shilling contribution the president had given to Crispinus Anglican Church in Bungoma.
The refusals of the cash threaten to unravel a historical church-state relationship characterized by such donations. But even as rattled state officials protested, church leaders have cheered, as has the public.
“I think returning the money is good. It is a way of making a statement and teaching the people the right way of giving,” the Rev. Emily Onyango, assistant bishop of Bondo, in western Kenya, told RNS in an interview.
The denominations, which traditionally use the money for church development, mission work and humanitarian activities, …