PHOTO/GIDEON MAUNDU Bishop Thomas Tsuma (right) lead other Bishops and pastors as they pray for Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto at the Malindi stadium during an inter-denominational prayers meeting.
By DANIEL WESANGULA dwesangula@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, February 11 2012 at 22:30
Posted Saturday, February 11 2012 at 22:30
The Church is once again on the cross for yet another foray into the murky waters of the Kenyan political scene.
After the fires of the 2007-2008 post-election violence were put out, questions were asked about the role that a rather silent bystander had played in the run-up to it.
Fingers were pointed at church leaders for failing to take a firm stand and lead their flocks in the path of righteousness.
Yet a number of individuals leading large congregations attempted to toe the lines of both their political party ideologies and their religious beliefs.
The same happened when in 2010 the proposed Constitution of Kenya was put to a referendum.
Almost all the major churches took a stand and campaigned against the popular charter.
Questions were once again asked whether it was right for the Church to dabble in politics.
“Kenyans love politics, and it will be almost impossible to separate the Church from politics.
Whether we like it or not, church leaders, more so evangelicals, will play a more active role in day-to-day politics,” sociologist Gladys Akello said.
After the January 23 ICC ruling, some of the suspects have held a series of rallies around the country in which religious leaders feature prominently.
At the so-called peace and prayer rallies, pastors pray for the suspects’ victory in the appeals they have lodged against the ruling that said they must be tried for crimes against humanity.
“The question we should be asking is whether it is in order for the Church to take up the role of absolving or assuming innocence on the part of the accused,” Ms Akello says.
Accepting that Kenyan society is deeply politicised, Pastor James Kyama of the Mavuno Downtown Church says a line, however, needs to be drawn.
“Unless we are entirely sure of a situation that has been presented before us, we, as pastors, should not be seen to be taking sides.
At the end of the day, we are human and have limitations in the sense of the information at our disposal,” Pastor Kyama told the Sunday Nation.
He said religious leaders do not have the whole picture of what really transpired during the violence.
“We were never there during all these meetings being referred to by both sides. Innocence has been presumed. Guilt has been assumed.
"Taking a stance in the absence of knowledge is wrong,” he added.
Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo has been critical of the “prayer” rallies, saying, the focus should be on victims, not the accused.
He says: “I see preachers in rallies praying for the accused, but who will speak for the voiceless? Don’t the victims deserve prayers, too? We must not forget the victims of the post-election violence.”
Pastor Kyama says that the appearance by politicians at churches is just a ploy to hoodwink Kenyans into taking one side or the other.
“Some will take to the pulpit to throw mud on the faces of those under investigations; others take to it to defend their allies. There cannot be two truths to a single matter.
"And as they make their Sunday rounds, they forget that God has His own sense of justice and will mete it out on the guilty,” he says.
Yet another opinion on the religion and politics debate arises.
“We should not at any given time forget that the politicians who walk into churches and take over the pulpit also have their own relationship with God.
"And we cannot be judgmental and assume it is wrong for a preacher to lay a hand on them. They have every right to seek atonement or blessing from their religious leaders,” anthropologist Wanjiku Mbitaaru said.
She said that a lot of questions are raised on the intentions of these church visits and the countrywide prayer rallies. Yet the intentions remain the preserve of those who make the visits.
“When one kneels down before his pastors, we cannot tell the conversation he is having with his God. And the pastor cannot refuse to pray for him,” she said.
In an opinion piece in last week’s Saturday Nation, Father Gabriel Dolan, a human rights activist, accused politicians of hijacking churches to further their own goals.
He said that by letting politicians take over their services, pastors have failed society in one crucial role: the pursuit of social justice.
“Churches have not so much lost their way as retreated into silence and sanctuaries… failing to speak consistently and prophetically on the ICC, IDPs, election date, poverty, ethnic tension and the Somali war,” he wrote.
Opinion may be divided on the role the Church should play in modern day politics. But the divide is bridged on one matter –– that as we approach the General Election, the line between Church and State will be blurred even more.
“Any religious leader worth their salt should tell them (politicians) to give up politics and join the pulpit if they want to preach,” he added.
“It has been a steady progress since the 2005 referendum. Churches will continue to take a much more in-your-face stance on matters politics.
"Some will field their own candidates for various political seats and eventually become bed fellows with those hoping from one prayer rally to the next,” says anthropologist Dr Mbitaaru.
Pastor Kyama says that eve amidst all this, both church leaders and the politicians should have one thing at the back of their minds.
“In these political mind games, He knows the guilty. He knows the innocent. He hears the cries of those whose blood was shed in the violence and he will not relent in seeking justice for both parties.”
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