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Kenya is in political angst.
Public confidence is at an all-time low. Political violence is spreading. Youth frustration is growing. Those entrusted with leadership are detached from the daily struggles of ordinary people. In such moments, society inevitably turns to one institution that has historically spoken when other voices fell silent: the Church.
Yet a debate has emerged. Some politicians, like Hon. Nelson Koech, MP, insist that the Church should stay away from politics and focus on prayer. Others, including Hon. S.K. Musyoka, the opposition leader, urge the Church to speak more boldly. The question is not whether the Church should involve itself in partisan politics. It should not. Does the Church have a public responsibility beyond worship and prayer?
The answer is yes. It does.
The Church has a prophetic vocation. That vocation obligates it to speak when justice is threatened, when power is abused, and when human dignity is violated.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, observed that the fundamental concern of the prophetic tradition is with equality and a critique of the abuse of power. The biblical prophets consistently defended the poor and challenged rulers who oppressed the vulnerable. Prophecy was never merely about predicting the future. It was about telling the truth in the present. This was exemplified by the likes of Archbishops David Gitari, Ndingi Mwana a Nzeki, and Bishops John Okulu and Alexander Muge, among many Kenyan clerics.
Kenya’s current circumstances demand precisely such a voice.
Walter Brueggemann, in The Prophetic Imagination (1978), identifies three central tasks of prophetic ministry. The first is to tell the truth in a society that lives in illusion. The second is to grieve in a society that practices denial. The third is to express hope in a society tempted by despair. These are not political tasks in a partisan sense. They are moral and spiritual responsibilities.
Today, Kenya needs truth.
Citizens are increasingly concerned about corruption, state violence, economic hardship, and the erosion of public trust. The Church cannot honestly witness these realities and remain silent. Silence in moments of injustice is not neutrality. It is surrender.
Yet speaking prophetically is not the same as pursuing political power.
The Church is not called to govern the state. Nor is it called to endorse parties or candidates. Its role is different. It serves as the conscience of society. It reminds leaders that political authority exists to serve the common good and not private interests.
This distinction is important.
Canon Chris Sugden, of the Oxford Centre for Religious and Public Life, argues that bishops are fundamentally pastors and overseers. Their primary responsibility is to teach, pray, guard the faith, and strengthen the Church. The detailed translation of Christian convictions into political and social action often belongs to believers working within society itself.
Even so, this does not relieve church leaders of their public responsibility.
Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, in Church, Ecumenism, and Politics, argued that the Church must educate society by forming consciences. Its task is to cultivate openness to truth, justice, and moral responsibility. According to Ratzinger, the Church helps maintain the delicate balance between freedom and tyranny by shaping citizens who act according to conscience.
This means the Church cannot retreat into the private sphere.
Political power always carries the temptation to elevate itself above moral accountability. Every government, regardless of ideology, requires institutions capable of reminding it that it is not absolute. The Church performs this function when it speaks from moral conviction rather than political interest.
Unfortunately, Kenya’s churches have not always fulfilled this role consistently.
Many citizens perceive a troubling pattern. Church criticism of government often appears louder when political opponents are in power and quieter when allies occupy State House. Different denominations have sometimes adjusted the volume of their prophetic witness according to their proximity to political influence. Such inconsistency weakens public confidence and undermines moral authority.
This problem is not unique to Kenya.
Reflecting on post-apartheid South Africa, Allan Boesak, in the essay “The Future of Prophetic Christianity” (1993), warned that churches sometimes allow political struggles to dictate their theology rather than allowing the Gospel to shape their engagement with politics. When this happens, the Church gradually loses clarity about its mission. It becomes reactive rather than prophetic.
Boesak’s warning is timely.
The Church’s central concerns must remain justice, humanity, truth, and reconciliation. It must not become the chaplain of any political movement. Nor should it become an opposition platform. Its loyalty belongs neither to government nor to opposition. Its loyalty belongs to the Kingdom of God.
Lesslie Newbigin, in Truth to Tell: The Gospel as Public Truth (1991), offers an equally important reminder. He argues that the Church’s greatest contribution to society is to be a new social order itself. Before it can transform society, it must demonstrate integrity, unity, justice, and accountability within its own communities. A divided Church cannot convincingly call a divided nation to reconciliation.
Geoffrey Allen, in A Wartime Theological or Ecclesial Reflection (1943), made a similar point during the turmoil of the twentieth century. A Church that overcomes its own internal conflicts gains the authority to speak credibly into the conflicts of nations.
Kenya’s political crisis therefore presents the Church with both a challenge and an opportunity.
The challenge is to rise above partisanship. The opportunity is to recover its prophetic calling.
The Church must condemn violence wherever it appears. It must defend the dignity of every Kenyan regardless of political affiliation. It must advocate for justice, accountability, and peaceful coexistence. It must speak for young people whose frustrations are increasingly ignored. And it must remind political leaders that power is ultimately a trust, not an entitlement.
Most importantly, the Church must continue to point beyond politics itself.
Lasting national renewal cannot be achieved solely through new laws, elections, or institutions. Political problems ultimately reflect deeper moral and spiritual realities. The corruption of public life is often rooted in the corruption of the human heart. The Church’s unique contribution is that it addresses this deeper dimension of national life.
Kenya needs a Church that prays. But it also needs a Church that speaks.
Not as a political actor. Not as a partisan institution. But as a prophetic witness. In a time of fear, it must tell the truth.
In a time of suffering, it must grieve.
In a time of despair, it must proclaim hope.
That is not political interference. It is the Church fulfilling its God-given vocation.
