The President of Kenya, William Ruto, pushed back against his critics, including the primate of the Anglican Church, on Sunday, defending his plans to build an Anglican chapel on the grounds of the State House in Nairobi.

Speaking at Kigari Teachers Training College in Embu County during a service marking the 35th anniversary of the Anglican Church of Kenya’s Embu Diocese, President Ruto said press reports about the size, cost, and function of the presidential chapel were overblown.

“I found a chaplain already at State House when I got there. There was already a church built nearly 100 years ago — a simple iron-sheet structure,” the President told the congregation, according to an account of his speech printed by Citizen Digital. “Now that I am renovating the rest of State House, why should I leave the house of God in such a state?”

“Let me be clear — I will build that church with my own money. It will cost very little. People should stop exaggerating figures to distract us. That propaganda will not scare me,” the President stated.

Reports the chapel would seat 8000 and cost upwards of Sh1 billion ($8 million) were incorrect, he said. “I have been informed that the diocese (of Embu) is building an 11-storey building in Embu Town at a cost of KSh350 million. How then will a chapel meant to host 300 worshippers cost over KSh1 billion? Kindly stop the propaganda and hatred of God’s work,” he said according to Capital FM.

“We are renovating State House to give it a decent look. Why can’t we do the same to the house of the Lord?” he asked.

The Most Rev. Jackson Ole Sapit, Primate of the Anglican Church of Kenya, last week criticized the president’s plans for building an Anglican chapel on the grounds of State House, saying the project would blur the line between church and state, directly clashing with Kenya’s constitutional commitment to secularism.