I once attended a “prophetic prayer meeting” to go to find out what motivates the Kenyans to be willfully exploited by pastors.
After the 2 hours session with the spiritual charlatans, I discovered that the Kenyan poor ( which is most Kenyans) turn to God for 2 main reasons, healthcare & wealth.
Kenya has shown these people nothing but extractive policies.
Its why they out source governance to Jesus Christ
Healthcare
The prophets preyed on the lack of healthcare by giving bullshit takes on ” ember months “.
Prophets used examples how spiritual forces use end of the year to Lind blood through road accidents.. Typical.
But have you noticed ever since the salgaa stretch was made into a dual-carriage we’ve had less accidents at the “black spot”? Engineering problems require engineering solutions, but I digress.
The problem with this rhetoric is that according to Road Safety data, Sub-Saharan Africa is the global capital for road traffic deaths. When more people are on our already bad roads especially during the festive months, more people will die. It’s simple math.
But even then, do the poor (or just average Kenyan) have access to good rescue services when they travel? First aid savvy citizens? Rapid response units? Ambulance access?
I promise you, no demon is thirsty for your blood, only your politicians are thirsty for your money. We need less prayer meetings for the roads and more engineers at the roads!
Wealth
Let me just quote the biggest bullshit I heard;
” before the year ends, God will use someone to send you 100 million you never expected, shout amen”
I mean, the government does not care about building inclusive wealth, so why won’t they shout amen?
The part of wealth got the loudest amen because the average Kenyan has seen their little earnings lose over 50% of its purchasing power since 2005.
Does not help that current crop of leaders would rather focus on BBI and abstract politics than actually bring policies to create better living standards for the poor, let alone wealth.
My favorite part
After the spiritual therapy session on healthcare & economics.
The prophet asked for each person to make a ” Thanksgiving ” of 1000-3000 Ksh, for the lord to bless them before the year ends and also unlock the “new year financial doors”
About 25 people lined up, I was visibly irritated.
But what could I do?
The prophet had to secure their bags too.
The next 4 years expect even more exploitation on the average Kenyan from pastors because GoK does not care about economic governance.
This past year our biggest conversation have been BBI and Eliud (Viva!), Barely about eradication of extreme poverty. And yet, we have just 10 years to meet vision 2030, while we’re still thinking cancer is the “devil’s doing” and not our terrible healthcare system. That we find ourselves on church pews and not at parliament demanding for this basic human right.
But I keep hoping your rose coloured glasses fall off, it’s the least I can do.
Hallelujah!