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As peace-loving Kenyans, we believe that there is power in prayers and we commend the idea of seeking God in prayer rallies. In lie to this, Kenyans are asking President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga to refrain their troops from misusing the scheduled prayer rallies and keep themselves off from political tomfooleries this Saturday in Nakuru and Kibra respectively.
But while the theme of these rallies have been said to be seeking divine intervention, we’ve also seen stages being used to exegete political bandwidths, political fixation and bribery claims between Jubilee and the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD).
This should stop. In fact, these rallies have become boon for vitriol, threats, name calling and political engineering, with the result being overheated political temperatures.
While Kenyans are yet to heal from the wounds of the post-election violence, these rallies might be used as political debate for 2017 elections and this will definitely raise ethnic and political temperatures even further.
We’ve seen these so called prayer rallies turning into avenues of hate speech and propaganda against members of the opposite political divide. These prayers have also been said to divide the country along tribal lines in the name of god and this should stop.
Kenyans have been treated in the past with transfixed bizarre prayer rallies and spectacles that always attract flies instead of God’s intervention. As a matter of fact, almost all prayer rallies in Kenya organized by politicians turn political. Prayer rallies are utter absurdity, a platform to sell political ideas instead of seeking God’s power and intervention. Indeed, Kenyans are tired when prayer meetings become hotbed of scuffles as various politicians measure their strength with the electorates.
Worse still, some clergymen have been accused of being ‘disciples’ of politicians. They have been seen playing politics in prayer rallies instead of standing on the side of God. Many have been accused of abandoning their role of leading the flock and have been seen leaning on non-everlasting political wing instead of trusting in God always. Kenyans are asking President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga to refrain their troops from misusing the scheduled prayer rallies. They should keep off political tomfooleries this Saturday in Nakuru and Kibra respectively.
Dr. Njenga, Solomon Ph.D
Dean - School of Governance, Peace and Security
Africa Nazarene University, Kenya
DISCLAIMER: These are my own views and NOT of the Institution I work for