Clerics on the spot over role in tribal groupings

Addressing a religious meeting in 1985, Anglican Bishop Alexander Kipsang Muge bemoaned the moral bankruptcy of the church leadership in the country.

The outspoken Bishop of Eldoret celebrated for his razor-edged criticism of President Moi’s government asked the clergy to re-examine themselves and reclaim their place as the conscience of the nation. His main concern was that having gone astray, church leaders lacked the moral authority to guide the rest of society.

“The church as an institution has nothing to lecture our nation about because all the evils that eat our nation, such as tribalism, favouritism, nepotism and other isms, have found true shape in the National Council of Churches of Kenya,” he said.

A staunch advocate of a united Kenya in which its people were at peace with multiple identities, the priest refused to see himself through the lens of ethnic affiliations that continue to define Kenya’s politics to date.

It has been argued that no aspect of Kenya escapes ethnicity, not even an externally-driven process like the International Criminal Court’s intervention.

This is partly explained by the fact that the main political parties are not anchored in ideology. Therefore, mobilisation based on ethnicity is a convenient tactic for politicians and a practice Bishop Muge despised.

“We have nothing in common with those who call themselves Nandi (his tribe) leaders. I am not a tribal leader. I am a spiritual leader with pastoral responsibilities over many tribes in my diocese,” he declared.

On August 14, 1990, he set off on a journey to Busia. He never returned. He had been warned by then Labour minister Peter Habenga Okondo not to set foot in Busia, but Bishop Muge defied the warning and headed there. He was killed in a road accident near Kipkaren in Uasin Gishu county on his way back from Busia.

It is not difficult to guess what would have been his reaction to today’s involvement of top religious leaders in tribal gatherings.

Foreign enemies

The most notable would be Bishop Emeritus Lawi Imathiu and Anglican bishop Peter Njenga who last month made worrisome speeches at a Limuru meeting calling on the Gikuyu, Embu and Meru (Gema) communities to unite in the face of alleged threats from domestic and foreign enemies.

The meeting in which Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, who is facing crimes against humanity charges at the ICC in The Hague, was anointed as the communities’ leader, identified Prime Minister Raila Odinga and the ICC as the principal enemies of their communities.

In an appeal for self-preservation, Bishop Imathiu said that the “enemies” were out to “dispossess and vanquish” them.

“How much longer must we remain in cocoons of fear and hopelessness in the face of repeated attacks on our community?” he asked.

The two clerics are co-chairs of the Gema tribal grouping.

But what has triggered debate is the surprise attendance of the otherwise respected Catholic bishop Cornelius Korir at the Eldoret meeting of members of the Kalenjin, Maasai, Turkana and Samburu (Kamatusa) communities to anoint Eldoret North MP William Ruto to run for president.

Mr Ruto is also an accused at the ICC for crimes committed during the 2007/8 violence that claimed more than 1,300 lives and led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of others mainly from the Rift Valley.

Other prominent church leaders at the Kamatusa meeting were the Rev Jackson Kosgei and the Rev Joseph Murupus from Pokot County.

Incidentally, the two ethnic assemblies were held in church facilities. While the Gema sat in the National Council of Churches of Kenya-owned Jumuia conference centre, the Kamatusa were hosted at the Catholic Pastoral Centre, the property of Bishop Korir’s Eldoret diocese.

And here, some of the church leaders made declarations against Mr Odinga and distanced the Kalenjin community from the post-election violence.

The Rev Murupus denied that the Kalenjin were involved in planning the violence.

“We were victims who suffered extensively, but we have been turned into aggressors,” he said, accusing Mr Odinga of refusing to concede defeat after the 2007 elections.

In addition to attending the tribal meetings, mebers of the clergy have been central in the so-called prayer rallies organised by the two ICC accused, activities that have been denounced by preachers elsewhere.

Those who have condemned the meetings and the prayers include Mombasa Catholic archbishop Boniface Lele, Mumias ACK bishop Beneah Salala and Kericho-based Segemik Parish priest Fr Ambrose Kimutai as well as Archbishop Ngede of Kisumu.

In what appeared to be a criticism of his colleague in Eldoret, Archbishop Lele on April 7 declared that he would not allow the prayer rallies and ethnic meetings in his archdiocese.

The archbishop condemned the Gema and Kamatusa meetings saying they were an indication that politicians have learnt nothing from the tragic events that marked the last General Election.

“We feel ashamed that churches and church institutions have hosted these meetings, thus granting at least silent approval to divisive ethnic-based politics,” he said.

“Church leaders are required to foster the unity and integrity of the Christian and national family. They must be prophetic, patriotic and put Kenya kwanza (first) before their ethnic identity,” he said.

Fr Kimutai said clergy involved in ethnic activities and suspicious prayer rallies should be expelled from the pulpits.

“There are true prophets and false prophets. Those moving around in rallies praying for two individuals while ignoring thousands who lost their loved ones during the violence should be flogged and driven out of churches, as did Jesus in the synagogue,” he said.

He described such priests as money lovers who had “bastardised the holy shrine of God”.

He further condemned the clergy who associated themselves with tribal organisations, saying men of God should represent all humanity and not sections of it.

“As a man of God, I represent and pray for Kikuyus, Luos, Kalenjin––everybody. I cannot identify myself with tribal groupings. When we were fighting for multipartyism, they were praying for continued subjugation of millions under the party dictatorship; when we were supporting a progressive constitution, they stood fervently against it and gave excuses which had no biblical foundation,” the priest said.

But Bishop Korir distanced himself from the Kamatusa declarations saying he only attended the meeting “for a few minutes” to welcome the participants because they were using church facilities.

“I told them that the church is for all people and whatever they resolve should be in the interest of peace,” he told the Sunday Nation.

Bishop Salala says Kenya requires leaders who can unite the nation, not divide it into enclaves.

Ethnic causes

“Clergymen promoting ethnic causes have gone astray, and we are praying for them. It is unthinkable to align yourself to one community when God has mandated you to pastor to all members of your flock regardless of their tribes,” he said.

“By going to their tribal cocoons, the men of God have turned themselves into tribal chiefs. Instead of propagating ethnic and partisan interests, the church leadership is called to preach peace and be a mediator and reconciler, not a divider,” he added.

Prof Joseph Galgalo, the dean in the Faculty of Theology at St Paul’s University, has attempted to explain the relationship between Christians and the commitment to their tribes.

He argues that although Christianity is widely followed in Africa, it often comes second to African traditional religious beliefs, ethnic loyalties and political considerations in almost all serious decisions.

“Loyalty to the African traditional beliefs and practices is still very strong among African Christians, and for most Christians ethnicity, and not Christianity, defines their identity,” he wrote in an article published in this newspaper.

“It is no secret that for most churches in Kenya, as it is elsewhere throughout “Christian Africa”, the church-goers and their leaders have shown that their loyalty often lies with their ethnic groups rather than with Christianity.”

Bishop Salala castigated religious leaders praying over the ICC accused persons.

“I am not against prayers, but what I see are meetings used as platforms to insult other leaders, preach hatred. They are not prayers in a way that is acceptable to God as prescribed in the Bible,” he said.

The cleric advised the Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto to argue their innocence in court. He further called on the deputy PM to leave government.

“The new Constitution is very clear that once a public officer is implicated in a criminal matter, that officer must step aside until they are cleared through the due process,” he said.

Archbishop Lele cautioned that organisers of the ethnic assemblies seem determined to risk the integrity and unity of the country to protect the people charged at the ICC suspects from trial.

This is not the first time the clergy are divided on a particular matter. In 2010, during the constitution referendum campaigns, some led by the NCCK general secretary Rev Peter Karanja campaigned against the draft constitution.

They, however, suffered embarrassment after their followers defied them and passed the new laws.

Archbishop Lele has cautioned Kenyans to shun ethnic alliances.

“Their threats to boycott the Olympics, influence the election date and impose their presidential candidates on the public is in complete disregard of the spirit and content of the August 2010 Constitution that Kenyans overwhelmingly endorsed. We must not permit elitist ethnic alliances to spoil these gains and balkanise the country.”