In Search of a Vision

As the government talks up a new long-term vision for the country, Jeff Koinange Live asked three faith leaders whether Kenyans can trust it. On the bench were Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit of the Anglican Church of Kenya, Pastor T. Mwangi of Life Church International, and Sheikh Ibrahim Lethome, a Muslim religious scholar.

Pastor T. Mwangi argued that the problem is old. Since independence, he said, party manifestos have barely changed: good roads, clean water, education and healthcare. More than 60 years later, those are still the promises. He compared today's politics to a time when a small class held all the knowledge and ordinary people were simply useful at election time. His prescription was patriotism that starts at the top, with leaders willing to give up some of their own perks so that ordinary Kenyans believe the sacrifice is shared.

Sheikh Lethome used a doctor's analogy. A good doctor does not just treat symptoms, he said; they ask hard questions to find the root cause before prescribing a cure. Kenya, he argued, needs that kind of honesty before any new vision can work.

Archbishop Ole Sapit revisited his well-known stand on political donations in churches. He explained that his objection was never to giving itself. When politicians take over the pulpit at fundraisers, he said, the media report what the politicians said, not the sermon, the prayers or the singing. At All Saints Cathedral, he said, "we all give quietly," without announcing amounts.

The panel agreed that faith communities remain one of the country's biggest influences on public life, and that their duty is to keep speaking the truth without fear or favour, whoever is in power. With the country heading into another election season, that role may matter more than ever.

Continue with Part 2 on Citizen TV.