Our churches have abandoned the poor

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga celebrated the fifth anniversary of the new Constitution at a forum for church leaders.

He took the opportunity to laud Christian leaders who bravely fought the oppression of the Moi regime, but challenged today’s leadership to emulate them by reoccupying the civic space it had occupied in decades past.

Dr Mutunga accused the churches of being mere spectators today and deemed their role in the 2005 and 2010 referenda as ‘inelegant’ claiming they ‘preyed and prayed on unfounded fears’ to rally against the drafts. Fears about sharia law and abortions were just scare mongering.

The CJ certainly made sense, but many would argue that the churches abandoned the public space long before the referendum debate — right after the 2002 elections in fact — when Daniel Moi was unseated and power entrusted in the ‘safe hands’ of Mwai Kibaki.

In the 2002 poll, NCCK, CJPC and Supkem had a monitor on every stream in each polling station in the republic. In the 2007 and 2013 general elections, they were notably absent and so were unable to throw any light on the presidential polls whose outcomes are disputed even today. With Moi sent packing, the churches felt their job was done and dusted.

So for over a decade the churches have found favour with the Kibaki and Kenyatta regimes. Ethnicity, of course, does play a part.

But the churches, too, reneged on the social justice and civic education agenda. They reverted to their core business and quickly found their new space in the establishment.

They lost their prophetic role more concerned with keeping the peace and courting authority; a very comfortable form of coexistence.

As public education floundered under the advent of free primary education, the churches opened private facilities that are mostly profit making.

Medical facilities, too, were no longer targeting the poor but the middle classes whom the churches began more and more to identify with.

Plazas, insurance companies and business enterprises were established to maintain the lifestyle and pay the bills.

REDUCED CREDIBILITY

However, in the process the mainline churches mostly forgot about the poor while the 18 million living in hardship have found solace in the indigenous churches.

The churches then are mostly comfortable with Jubilee and only occasionally emerge to talk about sexual ethics and vaccines, topics that have further reduced their credibility.

Churches do talk occasionally but only when they feel obliged to say something rather than have something worthwhile to say. Since their statements rarely make headlines, they are forced to buy space in newspapers to pass on their messages.

The Catholic Church’s response to TSC’s failure to honour the Supreme Court order on teachers’ salaries was shameful but not surprising.

Calling for dialogue over an order of the highest court in the land not only showed ignorance of the law but temporarily let the government of the hook.

In the process, they betrayed teachers and failed to inform the public that the government is well capable of paying increased salaries; just think of MPs hikes, Chickengate, KQ bailout, SGR, looting reported by Auditor-General.

The church’s tolerance of corruption is worrying. Who will now speak for the poor?

[email protected] @GabrielDolan1