MATIANG’I ISSUES STRICT WARNING TO CHURCHES.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i has warned churches to be wary of politicians attending religious functions.

Speaking at Catholic Diocese Murang’a on Sunday, February 14, Matiang’i urged church leaders to maintain intergrity, referring to the church as the last refuge for everyone; marriage, community, or in times of national crisis.

“If you start wobbling or expressing bias, where will we go? The nation will be lost. Many countries that have gone through growth and development challenges have been saved by the church,” Matiang’i said.

Matiang’i was referring to instances where politicians are holding rallies lobbying for voters a year and a half ahead of elections including during church services and funerals. He revealed that his ministry has resulted to conducting a pre-election security and stability assessment earlier than the norm due to the degree of volatility.

He highlighted the cases that have been reported of people being hired to heckle, shout down, cause chaos, or organize crime in rallies.

“These things are going to occasion instability in our country. We have come from a long spell of challenges, the corona pandemic, now we’re beginning to see signs of growth, our economy is slowly rising.

“Our country, especially our economy cannot afford any measure of volatility.  Chasing people down streets, gathering people in markets will scare investors, it will hurt economic activity. I want to plead with political leaders, let us think about our people and the stability of our nation,”  Matiang’i noted.

“Please don’t allow churches to become platforms of division for our people. The church is the last refuge,” he added.

He further mocked leaders for preaching water and taking wine.

As public servants, we have portrayed hypocrisy at its best. We attend public rallies, greet everyone in the name of God yet our actions don’t match our words,” he retorted.

“A while back, we were not cautious enough and that led to the loss of lives. We will be foolish leaders if we sit back and wait for a repeat of what we’ve experienced before after elections,” he added, referring to the violence experienced after the 2007 elections. He assured that the law will be effected fairly and objectively.

Source: Kenyans.co.ke