The vetting impasse: the ‘churches law’ and Kenya’s religious regulation debate

Over the last decade Kenya has been seeing a lively debate over the regulation of its ever-expanding religious market and demands for a new ‘Churches Law’. Tales of hypocritical abuse of power and of emerging cults coalesced with security concerns regarding religious extremism, leading to the propos...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gez, Yonatan N. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2020
In: Journal of religion in Africa
Year: 2020, Volume: 50, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 54-78
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Kenya / Religious pluralism / State / Religion / Internal security / Legislation
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
AX Inter-religious relations
KBN Sub-Saharan Africa
XA Law
ZC Politics in general
Further subjects:B religious regulation
B Pentecostalism
B Legislation
B Fundamentalism
B Kenya
B religious scandals
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Summary:Over the last decade Kenya has been seeing a lively debate over the regulation of its ever-expanding religious market and demands for a new ‘Churches Law’. Tales of hypocritical abuse of power and of emerging cults coalesced with security concerns regarding religious extremism, leading to the proposal to tighten regulatory control over the religious market, which expanded rapidly since the 1990s. Despite widespread recognition of the problem, new legislative steps have failed so far, notably even leading to a controversial 2014 moratorium on the registration of new religious denominations. This article analyzes this legislative impasse and offers an explanation in terms of the ambivalent yet symbiotic relations between religion and state in Kenya.
Item Description:Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 72-76, Literaturhinweise
ISSN:1570-0666
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion in Africa
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700666-12340181