The recent announcements by two leading evangelists in the country of their intentions to run for political office in 2007 has raised serious concerns amongst many Kenyans. More so the announcement this week by Pastor Pius Muiru that he would run for the presidency.
Apparently Muiru's bid has hit a snag as yesterday members of the RAK (Republican Alliance Of Kenya) party which he intends to stand with, while admitting that the evangelist had been in discussions with their chairman said that the party had not yet made a decision on whom to field as their presidential candidate. They said Pastor Pius Muiru's announcement concerning the presidency was therefore premature.
It is clear that most Kenyans are not comfortable with the clergy standing for political office. Outside their faithfuls and congregations, it seems that most leading men and women of God do not have much support. In fact they seem to be viewed with plenty of suspicion. Matters have not been made any easier by the fact that some of these men and women of God are very wealthy. Nothing wrong with that in my book. Kenyans seem stuck to the view that servants of God must be poor humble meek beggars who have to keep their mouths shut and retreat to pray without uttering a single word, even in the wake of government sponsored atrocities against the people. That is exactly what former President Moi's view was (and still is) and it seems to have sunk in deep into the psyche of ordinary Kenyans. Nothing can be further from the truth because this does not portray the God they represent. While there are those called intercessors who are supposed to pray and hardly do any talking, church leaders have a moral obligation in society to speak on behalf of the voiceless. So far this has only been partially successful. So rather than judge them in advance, is it not a good idea to have a few of them in mainstream politics to try and change things?
Amazingly we are barely 3 weeks into the year when the mother of all general elections will be held in Kenya and already so much has happened. What kind of year is this one going to be?!!
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I don't have a problem with the clergy getting into politics, my only concern is that they might be swallowed by the dirty game.
ReplyDeleteThe issue with a man/woman of the cloth, is that whether or not they have impacted positively to the surrounding individuals/society.
It's very simple. People of God are supposed to spread the gospel of peace, good will and all that. the problem currently with rich pastors is that their congregation always remains poor so people become dubious of whether or not they are utilizing God's resources appropriately...
I suspect the masses (majority being poor) judge on the possibility of corruption rather than Moi led notions of the place of the clergy in politics.
I believe the matter of Caesar should be left to Caesar and those of God to God as Jesus aptly adviced. You cannot serve two Masters. Politics is a dirty game;too murky! and unless these pastors are ready to soil their core beings; outwardly and inwardly, then they can plunge into politics. I really wonder what Good Book these so-called latter day pastors read if they are not going to heed their Master's advice whom they proclaim to represent. There is nothing like 'Let's take a certain constituency for Jesus'! as some of them are declaring. When did Jesus give them this mandate? Matters of the church are separate from the state but what pastors are supposed to do is to petition states in pursuit of social justice as servant foremost God and not even the people! Now they want to become servants of the people first and this does not work well with Biblical principles. You know what people have become too gullible because of being besieged by too many problems and are therefore seeking solutions to problems. So the so-called pastors are taking advantage of this gullibility and saying that God has revealed to them to do this and that. Judged from some of their actions, they cannot be relied upon to tell the truth and therefore they are just putting forward their personal agenda's of wanting to go to parliament. God does not reside in Parliament and if they truly want to impact changes,let them demonstrate by using resources that they already have on this selected constituencies. I have nothing personal against any of them but I am tired of people misusing God's name, living in grandeur while the flock live in total want. I believe if they get politics they will regret. Maybe they should consult the one famous 'prophetess' from Kinangop who was once an MP and she may shed some light on this one. Over to you.
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