The council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) has urged the government to consider the views raised by Catholic bishops concerning polio vaccines before they roll out the program.
Speaking to journalists in Eldoret on Friday, the council’s chairman in Uasin Gishu County Sheikh Abubakar Bini suggested that the government holds talks with the catholic bishops who have since urged a boycott of the vaccination citing safety reasons.
"It is important to hold talks and listen to the issues being raised by the Catholic Church," he said.
According to Bini, the mass oral vaccination program set to commence on Saturday should be suspended until an agreement is reached on the matter, saying that this has increased suspicion and confusion among the public.
He proposes that the vaccines be retested and safety established before they are used on children in the program run by the World Health Organisation and The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Earlier this year the Catholic Church had claimed that the mass neonatal tetanus vaccination campaign was a way by foreign organisations to control population. They had called for a retesting of all the vaccines before, and after the campaigns.
In a statement issued on Tuesday the government assured Kenyan's of the safety of the vaccines and warned that mobilising people to boycott the campaign is a violation of Human Rights
"Any attempts aimed at mobilizing the public against taking their children for vaccination is a serious violation of the right of children to health and survival," said Dr. Nicholas Muraguri, director of Kenya's Medical Services, in the statement.
The immunisation campaign is scheduled to begin on August 1.