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Religious leaders sound New Year alarm over politics
The Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya Jackson Ole Sapit.
Leading church figures started the year yesterday with a collective call for moral renewal, national unity and political restraint, warning that the country is drifting dangerously into early electioneering at the expense of its social fabric, economy and institutions.
From the Anglican, Catholic and evangelical pulpits, clerics used New Year 2026 sermons to urge Kenyans to reclaim a sense of common purpose, confront corruption and resist ethnic and factional politics.
Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit framed the coming months as a decisive test for the nation.
Although Kenya is still 19 months away from the August 2027 polls, he said it feels as if it is “only a few weeks to the elections” divided into hostile Two-Term and One-Term camps.
He also called for a national dialogue with young people and proposed a “Kenya Youth Marshall Plan” to address their political, economic, technological and social future.
On the economy, Mr Sapit acknowledged government success in stabilising inflation and exchange rates but warned that high taxes, interest rates and electricity costs were choking manufacturing and productive sectors.
He also warned against what he described as extra-constitutional borrowing mechanisms that securitise future tax revenues, cautioning they could trigger a crisis similar to the 2008 US financial collapse.
The warnings were echoed by Catholic Archbishop Philip Anyolo at the Holy Family Basilica in Nairobi.
He urged Kenyans to recommit themselves to faith, family and community. He called for simple acts such as shared prayers at home, reconciliation over resentment, gratitude instead of complaint as foundations of national healing.
Bishop Kennedy Kamau of the Redeemed Gospel Sanctuary in Kawangware described corruption as the country’s most corrosive affliction, arguing that no economic blueprint could succeed without confronting it head-on.
Bishop Samwel Njiriri, the chairperson of the Evangelical Churches, was more optimistic and voiced confidence in President William Ruto’s development agenda.
