The Roman Catholic Church’s Involvement in Social Economic Development in Meru County- Kenya From 1911 to 2019

Abstract

In the contemporary society, the church complements the government in dealing with various issues that affect the citizens. This is exemplified in this study which has investigated involvement of the Roman Catholic Church in various social economic empowerment activities in Meru County, Kenya. The study was guided by four objectives. First, to describe the historical background of the Ameru. Second, to explain the Roman Catholic Church’s initiatives in the social economic empowerment of the Ameru. Third, to investigate the involvement of the Roman Catholic Church in provision of education and health services in Meru County. Lastly, to assess the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the government in social economic development in Meru County. The study employed a mixed methods research design, where elements of quantitative and qualitative research were analysed. The study targeted all the Ameru, attending Roman Catholic Church in Meru County. A sample size of 194 respondents was purposely selected, based on their involvement in social-economic empowering activities in the county. Questionnaires and interview schedules comprising open and close-ended items were administered to elicit data from the respondents on the Roman Catholic Church’s engagement in social economic activities. The resultant information was categorized into themes and analysed for congruency and systematic presentation of information basing on the objectives of the study. The information gathered from the field was corroborated with relevant literature reviewed to ascertain the Church’s involvement in social economic activities. Two theories were used in this study. First, is complementary theory that applauded the interconnections within societal institutions in development matters. Second, is the hybrid theory which advanced the idea that religious institutions search for new sources of revenue to fund the core values of its missions by creating subsidies to generate revenue for the parent body. The study established that the Roman Catholic Church’s contribution in Meru County is involved in spiritual issues, politics, governance and social economic development programmes. This resulted in job creation, agri-development, capacity building by equipping people with various skills in education and health sectors. The study, however established that there was need for the RCC and the government to collaborate and prioritize tertiary education in Meru County. The study recommends that the complementarity relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Government could be extended to other churches.