4th April 2008

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH RESPONDS TO HONORABLE ASMAN KAMAMA’S 6-DAY WORK

WEEK PROPOSAL

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kenya is a community of about 3 million believers who observe
Saturday as their day of worship. The headquarters of the church in Kenya is known as the East African
Union situated in Nairobi. We the East African Union of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and indeed
the entire Adventist fraternity in Kenya have noted with great concern the announcement by the Minister
of State for Public Service the Honorable Mr. Asman Kamama that civil servants should be prepared to
work on Saturdays once a team researching on the new working modality presents its recommendation
to the ministry of Public Service.

We have been taken aback at the seeming finality in the ministers pronouncements which does not
seem to factor in that a large section of the civil service will by that one act have been denied their
fundamental right to worship on a day of their choosing as enshrined in our constitution. Section 78 of
our constitution provides that “Except with his own consent, no person shall be hindered in the
enjoyment of his freedom of conscience, and for the purposes of this section that freedom includes
freedom of thought and of religion, freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone
or in community with others, and both in public and in private to manifest and propagate his religion or
belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance”.

While appreciating minister’s zeal to drive our nation to a 24 hour economy, we are of the opinion that
any moves in that direction should be sensitive to the fundamental and God given rights of all Kenyans.
We cannot overemphasize that these rights as enshrined in Chapter V of our constitution are God-given
and not enjoyed as a result of the largesse of the state. The role of the state is just but to guarantee
and safeguard these rights.

We are calling upon the government and the minister to suspend the proposal because it will take away
the rights of our members to worship on the Seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday) which is guaranteed in our
constitution and is a biblical commandment. We believe compelling the civil service to work on
Saturdays may lead many of our church members to be terminated from civil service because they
cannot compromise their faith for work. Many others may be closed out from recruitment into the civil
service and this is tantamount to our church members being denied their rights to observe their day of
worship and is persecution of our church members.

The minister will need to find out how the five-day work week started. The Seventh-day Church
members appealed to the government and it was granted to accommodate them. In the proposed six-
day work week we need to know how the Seventh-day Adventist Church members will be
accommodated because “We must obey God rather than men!” - Acts 5:29 (New International Version).

We trust that our leaders shall take cognizance that “If the Lord does not build the house, it is useless
for the builders to work on it” (Psalms 127:1). Let us not disregard God our creator and sustainer in our
efforts to build our economy. Let him be the very bedrock upon which we build our economy.

God bless Kenya.

Pr. M. P. Muasya
Executive Director
East African Union of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
 KENYA: ADVENTISTS OPPOSE SIX-DAY WORKWEEK PROPOSAL

15 percent of civil servants could be affected, church leader says;

campaign in media, community

April 10, 2008 Nairobi, Kenya

Ansel Oliver/ANN

Seventh-day Adventists in Kenya are criticizing a

government six-day work week proposal that would require
civil servants to work on Saturday, the biblical Sabbath and
day of rest for the nearly 16 million-member global
denomination.

Kenya's minister of state for public service introduced the

proposal after a government team examined a new work
model.

Adventist Church leaders called on the government to

suspend the proposal, saying requiring members employed
as civil servants to work on Saturday would conflict with the
constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion.

"While appreciating the minister's zeal to drive our nation to

a 24-hour economy, we are of the opinion that any moves
in that direction should be sensitive to the fundamental and
God-given rights of all Kenyans," Paul Muasya, executive
director of the church's East African Union Mission, said in
a statement during a press conference in Nairobi last week.

His entire statement also appeared on April 10 as

advertisements national newspapers, including Daily Nation
and The Standard.

Church leaders in Kenya said the proposal could affect 15

The Adventist Church in Kenya placed
advertisements in national newspapers April 10
explaining its opposition to a government
proposed six-day work week. Church leaders
plan to lobby government and labor officials
regarding the proposal that would require
Adventist civil servants to work Saturdays.
[photo: East Africa Union]
percent of the country's civil servants. Union of Kenya Civil
Servants representatives said they would accept working
Saturdays if they were treated as overtime, according to the
Nation.
Last week, The Nation reported Minister of State for Public
Service Asman Kamama as saying he had urged public
servants to stop being "conservative" and "embrace
change."

Kamama was not immediately available for comment.

The church's Justice and Commission Committee met April 10 to set plans in opposing the minister's plan,
said Philip Gai, the church's communication director in East Africa.

"We intend to dialogue with the minister concerned, lobby through our Adventist members of parliament,
lobby through the Adventist lawyers association, meet with the civil servants union leaders and to meet with
the Federation of Kenya Employers," Gai said.

"We also want to sensitize church members on the situation and embark on religious liberty seminar in all our
churches," he added.

Kenya, a country of about 37 million people, is home to roughly 565,000 Adventists. Church leaders estimate
that figure jumps to nearly 3 million when including children who have not yet chosen to join the church
through baptism.

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ANN Staff:
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