Ruto hosts 96 AIPCA bishops for talks on 'opportunities for our young people'

Barely a day after he hosted a delegation of Catholic bishops at State House, Nairobi, President William Ruto has now hosted their counterparts from the African Independent Pentecostal Church Africa (AIPCA).

President Ruto, in a statement posted on X on Saturday, said he met 96 AIPCA bishops led by Presiding Archbishop Samson Muthuri for what he termed as multi-sectoral talks including youth unemployment.

He underscored the government's commitment to creating job and income opportunities for the youth through various strategic programmes and policies.

"The government has deliberate programmes and policies to create job and income opportunities for our young people. These include the Affordable Housing Programme, digital jobs, labour migration and industrialisation through county aggregation and industrial parks and special economic zones," said Ruto.

"The proposed youth and multi-sectoral forums will give the youth and other stakeholders a platform to discuss these and other national economic challenges that face our country."

On Friday, Ruto hosted Kenyan Catholic bishops at State House, Nairobi, for what he said was a conversation to come up with solutions to the country’s problems.

The delegation of the clergy, President Ruto said in a post on X, was led by the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) Chairman Archbishop Maurice Muhatia.

“We welcome the commitment by the Catholic Church to participate in a multi-sectoral engagement that seeks solutions to the issues facing our country. Through this collective approach, we will move Kenya forward,” he wrote then.

The meeting came amid clamour from Kenyans online to delink politics and religion, with a prominent social media activist launching a campaign to rid churches of politicians in a move dubbed ‘#CleanTheAltar.’

Activist Mwabili Mwagodi kicked off the campaign which has seen him directly text or call church pastors and bishops and personally urge them to disinvite Kenyan politicians - including the President - from their functions.

The clamor has led to the cancellation of several planned church functions, including a fundraiser event at the Lavington United Church which was scheduled to be attended by First Lady Rachel Ruto.