For Ida Odinga, the fact that her husband Raila Odinga is in the thick of this year’s Uhuru Succession politics, where he hopes to this time and march to State House after several attempts, did not stop her from saying it as it is.
That is especially when it comes to some religious sects which she feels, like most other Kenyans, do not follow the straight and narrow path when it comes to salvation and the deep understanding of who God is. She was up-close and candid.
Following some unsavoury reactions, however, she hurriedly withdrew her remarks and publicly apologised—of course after considering the timing and the harm that could be caused by those ‘clerics’ who would be aggrieved by being told the truth. But she had opened a Pandora’s box and, like Caesar’s wife, she should hold her head high: It is actually time Kenyans called to account some of these clergy.
Around 85 per cent of Kenyans are Christians. Denominations and religious sects are registered almost daily. There are “prophets”, “prophetesses” and “apostles” galore. Add to this the mainstream denominations and one wonders why the country is still in the mire when it comes to vices.
Ida hit hard at what most Kenyans see as nothing but ‘prosperity gospel’. Even before the coming of the Christian missionaries, native communities had their religious beliefs but the entry of the white man rendered them pagan. Be it as it may, Kenyans embraced Christianity in a big way and, to date, their faith is unshakable. It is this faith that is being manipulated by the ‘anointed (wo)men of God’.
There is, therefore, an urgent need to regulate churches, as Ida said. Bodies like the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) should come out and bring sobriety to the way the Gospel is spread.
It would be hard for the government to say no to the mushrooming of churches because Kenya has freedom of worship. But that should not stop it from protecting the citizenry from wayward preachers. It shouldn’t wait for a Jim Jones moment, or a Rwandan genocide, to take action against them.
