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Churches have been urged to reject inducements from politicians in bid to regain their voice of keeping the government on toes as well as demanding accountability from the political class.
Human right lobby groups and governance and policy analysts maintain whenever the clergy allow politicians to undermine the churches’ prophetic voice by donating huge monies, they lose their ability to demand good governance.
According to Dr Davies Okombo, the churches should go back to its core values and forget the riches of the world and focus more on spiritual nourishment and not on earthly riches.
“We live in a state where in the past whenever Bishops were being ordained then they were sure that they would get a Prado TX as a gift from a politician and millions of monies. Once the church’s integrity will be undermined by this 30 pieces of silver their independence is going to be undermined and they will not be able to speak because in the same spot where political class deep their hands it is the church also who gets this money,” he said during an interview with Spice FM.
He added, “It makes no sense for religious leaders flying in choppers like politicians and having such a fleet of expensive uh vehicles. This is not what Christ stood for and we need to take a lesson from the Pope in Rome who actually when he came to Africa he had one of the least expensive cars,” Dr Okombo said.
Reflecting that the country did not have a strong Opposition and the shrinking of the civic space, Dr Okombo called on the church to fill the gap and play its rightful role in determining the country’s future.
The governance analyst said the clergy should borrow a leaf from their predecessors who spoke against the ills and the government excesses in the 80s and 90s as they went against all odds to demand for the freedoms.
“Some of the freedoms that we are enjoying today in Kenya is because the clergy stood out for the prophetic voice. Even in the old testament, there were prophets that could tell the king that “listen you are naked and this is what we need in Kenya today where the clergy can come out to fight corruption,” he noted.
Dr Okombo accused the political class of using ill gotten money to undermine the church, a move he associated to the church’s losing its critical voice to call out the government in cases of extrajudicial killings, misplaced priorities among other vices.
“Politicians are using 30 pieces of silver to betray the church. The Church has always played politics and we should go out there and stand up for the rights of the people of Kenya, because we are in a state where there is a lot of political intolerance,’ noted Okombo.
He reiterated that it was biblical for churches to allow government critics to use the pulpit to demand for good policies that he said would create an enabling environment for Kenyans to put money in their pockets noting that the kingdom of God was all about better governance.
“Politics does not defile the altar. If anything, the word politics is the science of governance and the message that the Lord Jesus Christ brought to this world which the church supports is about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of God is about governance,” he said.
He added “it is really incorrect for the clergy to say that politics should be kept out of the church. There is a difference between political campaigns when politicians go to churches to raise contention issues and when they fight for Kenyans.”
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Churches have been urged to reject inducements from politicians in bid to regain their voice of keeping the government on toes as well as demanding accountability from the political class.
Human right lobby groups and governance and policy analysts maintain whenever the clergy allow politicians to undermine the churches’ prophetic voice by donating huge monies, they lose their ability to demand good governance.
According to Dr Davies Okombo, the churches should go back to its core values and forget the riches of the world and focus more on spiritual nourishment and not on earthly riches.
“We live in a state where in the past whenever Bishops were being ordained then they were sure that they would get a Prado TX as a gift from a politician and millions of monies. Once the church’s integrity will be undermined by this 30 pieces of silver their independence is going to be undermined and they will not be able to speak because in the same spot where political class deep their hands it is the church also who gets this money,” he said during an interview with Spice FM.
He added, “It makes no sense for religious leaders flying in choppers like politicians and having such a fleet of expensive uh vehicles. This is not what Christ stood for and we need to take a lesson from the Pope in Rome who actually when he came to Africa he had one of the least expensive cars,” Dr Okombo said.
Reflecting that the country did not have a strong Opposition and the shrinking of the civic space, Dr Okombo called on the church to fill the gap and play its rightful role in determining the country’s future.
The governance analyst said the clergy should borrow a leaf from their predecessors who spoke against the ills and the government excesses in the 80s and 90s as they went against all odds to demand for the freedoms.
“Some of the freedoms that we are enjoying today in Kenya is because the clergy stood out for the prophetic voice. Even in the old testament, there were prophets that could tell the king that “listen you are naked and this is what we need in Kenya today where the clergy can come out to fight corruption,” he noted.
Dr Okombo accused the political class of using ill gotten money to undermine the church, a move he associated to the church’s losing its critical voice to call out the government in cases of extrajudicial killings, misplaced priorities among other vices.
“Politicians are using 30 pieces of silver to betray the church. The Church has always played politics and we should go out there and stand up for the rights of the people of Kenya, because we are in a state where there is a lot of political intolerance,’ noted Okombo.
He reiterated that it was biblical for churches to allow government critics to use the pulpit to demand for good policies that he said would create an enabling environment for Kenyans to put money in their pockets noting that the kingdom of God was all about better governance.
“Politics does not defile the altar. If anything, the word politics is the science of governance and the message that the Lord Jesus Christ brought to this world which the church supports is about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of God is about governance,” he said.
He added “it is really incorrect for the clergy to say that politics should be kept out of the church. There is a difference between political campaigns when politicians go to churches to raise contention issues and when they fight for Kenyans.”
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By Ndung’u Gachane