Time for prayers to exorcise the evil spirit wrecking our economy

Every first Saturday of October, Catholics troop to Subukia, Nakuru County, to pray for their families, the church and the country.

Last year, the Christians went on the pilgrimage at the Subukia Marian Shrine under three weeks to the repeat presidential election.

The Supreme Court had ordered a fresh poll for October 26, after it nullified the August 8 result, in which the incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta beat Opposition leader Raila Odinga.

President Kenyatta attended the prayers and urged Kenyans to remain peaceful, echoing the message of the Catholic bishops, led by Archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth, the head of the Archdiocese of Kisumu.

JOURNEY OF FAITH

This Saturday, the faithful march to Subukia in a solemn journey of faith informed by a different sense of fear and hope.

The famous handshake between President Kenyatta, who was re-elected for a second and last term, and his erstwhile arch-rival Odinga in March eased the tension that threatened to tear Kenyans apart.

But building long-term peace and mutual respect should be on the lips and minds of all pilgrims.

The bishops should seek to deepen the message of building bridges for Kenya to grow, create jobs for the youth, reduce poverty and promote equity among Kenyans.

They should lead the faithful in praying for social, economic and political prosperity.

The most important prayer would be to ask God to heal us from the chronic sickness of corruption and impunity. They must exorcise the demons that are working overtime to put Kenyans into temptation.

The spirit of evil has turned the good government of the people into a marketplace for ‘tenderpreneurs’ and money changers — perhaps more savage than the ones Jesus threw out of his Father’s temple.

The public servant is seen through the lens of the official who stashes public funds in the accounts of his family. As one American diplomat put it years ago, devious public officials are literally taking food out of the mouths of the poor to feed their children in expensive schools.

FRIGHTENING VIOLENCE

The level of violence is frightening. In recent weeks, murders of pregnant wives, teenagers and children have put to test the social fabric of the nation.

Death has become the ultimate price when lovers fall out or deals go sour.

The lunatic driver, high on spirits, continues to kill and maim thousands of innocent travellers on the roads. More than 2,800 Kenyans died in traffic accidents last year, according to a road safety report published by the National Transport and Safety Authority in September last year.

The evil spirit controls the cartels that flood the domestic market with counterfeits and contraband, ruining the lives of hard-working manufacturers and traders of local products.

An official who uses public funds to import contaminated sugar instead of paying growers cannot claim to be sane. So are those who import maize as local produce rots, or steal coffee from factories and condemn growers to perpetual poverty.

PRAY MORE

Kenyans should pray more, for they cannot dance with the devil on their back.

The clergy should work with the authorities to fight corruption and impunity. They should fuel the war against evil through prayer and action.

They should approach this difficult task with clean hands — not contaminated by the same evil that they’re trying to expel from our midst. They should stop providing platforms for politicians to fight and abuse one another or show off their ill-gotten wealth. Last year, many clerics read harvest time in the charged political atmosphere and regularly invited politicians to bankroll their projects.

A pilgrimage is the defining moment for a believer’s spiritual growth and freedom. The lesson for the religious fraternity is to keep a safe distance from politics.

Even as they partner with the government in development, Church and State must remain separate.

Otherwise, like in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the naive minds of the faithful who witness the clergy wining and dining with politicians will be confused and, thus, see no evil in eating of the forbidden coffers of the people.

Mr Warutere is a director of Mashariki Communications Ltd.