Like Zambia, Kenya needs divine intervention –

By David OgindeShare this story: It is a tired call, but a call we must not be tired of —the call to prayer. While many may dismiss it as merely escapist, it is nonetheless an appreciation that there are things that only God can deal — issues that require divine intervention. That is why I was deeply impressed when Ambassador Brenda Muntemba, the Zambia High Commissioner to Kenya, came to our church last Sunday to enlist our support for a prayer initiative for her nation, as decreed by her president. In the written declaration, President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has proclaimed Sunday, October 18, 2015 as the day of Repentance, Prayer and Fasting to be observed throughout Zambia.

Furthermore, all the diplomatic missions abroad have been directed to mobilise Zambians and friends of Zambia to join in the prayer day within their countries of residence. In the proclamation, the President states that “the decision was inevitable in view of the many challenges that the country is faced with, among them: socio-economic; disrespect for elders, and a near absence of civility in discourse; high unemployment levels among the youth and high poverty levels; Kwacha depreciation; and load shedding due to the power deficit.” The Head of State has appealed to all the people of Zambia to assemble at their respective places of worship and spend time in prayer and fasting to seek the face of God to avert the challenges that confront the nation. As I read this declaration and listened to the Ambassador explain it, I could not help but compare with our own state of the nation. Almost everything the Zambian President highlights as a key challenge to his nation has an equivalent in Kenya. Over the last several years, Kenya has faced several negative factors that have worked in concert to drive this nation to the precipice. The decline in the social and economic spheres has been gradual but frighteningly steady. From a tightly knit civilised community, our bond of relationship has been seriously eroded by the cancer of tribalism. Our public discourse is badly polluted by a serious lack of decorum and civility. Likewise, from a rapidly growing economy, we have witnessed a severe downturn in many fronts. Thus in the last few years, we have gone through perhaps some of the worst times in our independent history.
Whereas some of the contributing factors have been unforeseen and external, many others are of our own making. On the one hand, our endemic corruption is reported to be eating away almost 30 per cent of our national budget; making it virtually impossible for government to meet its set targets and fulfil its obligations. At the same time, we have created an over-politicised environment in which we view almost everything through political and ethnic prisms. This has meant that we play politics from election to election at the expense of productive work. As a people, we expend inordinate amounts of time, energy and resources on political discourse and intrigues — most of which is destructively negative.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000179272/like-zambia-kenya-needs-divine-intervention/