On Tuesday, November 19, evening the State House revealed that it had not received back the rejected money.
According to the State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed, although the Catholic Church, through the archbishop declined Ruto’s donation, the church had not refunded it.
This comes after details have emerged that the Catholic Parish of St. Joakim and Anne in Soweto, Nairobi, had personally requested the controversial donations.
”As the church too, there are requests that we have brought to you via our leaders and bishops, this is not via the Christians alone, but via the citizens too,’’ James Mburungu, the parish priest told Ruto.
The request was confirmed by Ruto when he rose to address the jubilant congregation, following subsequent appeals by Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja and a host of other local leaders.
”I have been told by the chairman here that you are building the priest’s house and I am also a developer with a record in building various projects like affordable housing…I will give you Ksh 5 million,” Ruto stated.
Ruto donated Ksh 600,000 to Soweto Catholic Church in Nairobi for choir members and Ksh2 million that would be used to construct the father’s house.
He also promised to donate an additional Ksh3 million that would be channelled to the church’s account to purchase a church bus. During the event, Governor Sakaja donated Ksh 200,000 to the same church.
However, Bishop Anyolo noted that the donations made by the two senior government officials contravened the Public Fundraising Appeals Bill 2024.
The appeal states that any person who solicits or receives money or a benefit conducts a fundraising appeal regardless of whether the representation made was direct or indirect.
