The magnitude of corruption has finally woken the church from it long slumber and silence, perhaps in recognition that it too, will be swallowed up.
NCCK General Secretary Rev. Canon Peter Karanja says the vice has become malignant permeating every fabric of the Kenyan society. The NCCK has called for “the declaration of graft as a national disaster”. According to the clericks Taxpayers will have lost Sh700 billion to corruption by the end of this financial year.
While Machakos governor Alfred Mutua has called for urgent measures to stem the vice that is threatening to compromise gains made over years.
And this is how other has dealing with ill-gotten wealth.
Though seizing proceeds of crime maybe a good idea, I’m afraid it won’t work in Kenya. As soon as they start breaking down doors, and the thieves start fighting back (we are being targeted because of our tribe!), the whole thing collapses. Kenyans do not have what it takes to have a decent society. We want to associate with the good (rich people - by whatever means - are cultural heroes.), never mind that they don’t give a rat’s ass about you. But tell people to shove sewage by hand to feed themselves and they become impervious to reason. They’ll tautologically throw out lame arguments by the bucket and impute some sort of ill intent… Some sort of social upheaval seems inevitable.
50 years later pia hao wameamka. In Kenya there is no concept of seizure of assets or the proceeds of crime, those lucky to be in the know tend to prefer to “share” the loot.
One terrible thing anti-Kenyans do, which keeps the wheel of corruption spinning, when serious voices speak strongly against corruption, the pretentious ant-corruption voices throw down the gauntlet and raise barriers against the strong voice; an indication of favouring corruption, hence allowing corruptors free reign for decades.
We have to embrace anyone who intends to deal with corruption and not raise barriers. The NCCK has many member churches, many have built churches and institutions’ on land acquired legitimately, let us not stifle the call they have made just because some have acquired land in a tainted manner. Some of the churches were probably duped into purchasing land they thought was legitimate.
There is no doubt that perennial negativos and enemies of progress exist and that they live amongst us. Just days ago, some came out in strong defense of a woman who subverted the course of justice through corruption in the matter of the death of a minor. Astoundingly they saw nothing wrong in making pay offs to escape prosecution. Yet they were the same ones engaged in demanding justice in the case of the “fake” Pastor who caused death by being reckless, the same exact mode of actions that resulted in the death of the minor. That is just how corrupt we have become, when we no longer know right from wrong and our perception of either is guided by social class, gender, personal gain, political affiliations and ethnic considerations.
However for the rest of us, we must call a spade a spade. Until we accept that we are ailing we shall never seek the cure. The church is making noise now, but this scourge has been amongst us since the 1960s. It is of course better to be late than never. Instead of only making noise which is commendable, why doesn’t the church for once initiate a referendum or popular movement to rid us of the scourge that has infested society to the extent that it now manifests itself amongst children in various ways and forms.
It is a sick state of affairs when children aspire to be MPs or Senators not because it is a selfless act of being a public servant, but because it is a path to easy riches, obviously through corruption. Actions speak louder than words, we must take the bull by the horns or it will consume us, the church has the clout to clear the path for that to happen. If we have to, let us pass laws with or without parliament’s cooperation (referendum) that will take all those who engage in corruption and put them behind bars.
We can all play a small role in this, a minority set of judges has began meaningfully cracking the whip, we need more judges to do the same but we must also go after the kings and queens of both public and private corruption to mark the beginning of the end of the culture of impunity. If we add lawful seizure of assets to make restitution and to pay these hefty fines, those who are tempted to steal will think twice.
When the church stops taking stolen money from politicians is the day they will have a moral authority to condem corruption.
Otherwise these so called men of God are just the same as all corrupt Kenyans. We should change our motto to lie, cheat and steal.
It is far much worse in church than in govt, the so called pastors and priest thrive on swindling followers. They have no moral authority to condemn their very own foundation
If a voice like one calling in the dessert makes the call against the vice let us not castigate that voice because the charlatans.
Some of the churches are setup as business enterprises, whose core activity is to collect money from members of the public for self-enrichment.
The church as constituted is a silent observer, in silence it becomes a participant in the vice and behaves in a similar way to the church during the era of slavery. It is so far away removed from Christ, who did not spare the Pharisees, Sanhedrin, Sadducees, Scribes and Tax Collectors.
Scribes: the lawyers Sanhedrin:the group of judges.
Pharisees: representatives of the people Sadducees: priestly group of religious leaders Tax Collectors: administrativegovernment in-service to the Roman Empire
