President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged Kenyans to embrace religious teachings as a way of overcoming some of our national challenges such as corruption.
The President said if Christians lived their lives right, had compassion for those who do not have and lived in the way of the Bible, there would be no corruption and other related vices in Kenya.
“If we did live in the way of the Bible, we would respect one another. And if we did live in the way we are taught, we would be able to forgive one another in order to have a healed country,” the President said.
“We all know what our challenges are, let us conquer those challenges by living every day in a manner that befits good Christians,” he added.
President Uhuru was speaking at the Nairobi Club grounds last evening where he presided over the National Bible Translation Fundraising dinner to help translate the Bible into more local languages so that more Kenyans can read the word of God in their indigenous languages.
According to Rev. Peter Munguti, the National Director of the Bible Translation and Literacy, the Bible has only been translated completely into 21 languages out of the 60 local languages in Kenya.
“This project is important as it is geared towards ensuring that every single Kenyan, regardless of where he or she was born, will have the opportunity to read the bible in a language that speaks to their heart,” President Uhuru said during the fundraising that was organized by Deputy President William Ruto, the Bible Society of Kenya and the Bible Translation and Literacy.
Saying he swore to defend and protect the Kenyan constitution, President Uhuru pointed out that Kenya is a God-fearing nation and called on Kenyans to respect each other’s religious beliefs as a way of fostering national unity and cohesion.
“We are a nation that understands that we have many colours, many communities, many religions and we are a nation of tolerance,” President Uhuru said.
“That is why I am happy to see many from other faiths here supporting this cause just as we shall support their causes because our nation is a tolerant one. That is what we are supposed to be able to do to build tolerance and acceptance,” the President emphasized.
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Deputy President Ruto said he was a beneficiary of the Bible that was written in Kalenjin and called for support to help avail the word of God to Kenyans who do not have it in their local languages.
“As I stand here today I am a beneficiary of the Bible that was written in Kalenjin. It is the Bible in Kalenjin that made my father to read the word of God, to stop what he was doing, married my mother and took us to school,” the DP said
Quoting South African freedom icon and former President Nelson Mandela, DP Ruto said, “If you speak to a man in a language he understands, it goes to his head. But if you speak to a man or woman in his or her own language, it goes to his or her heart.”
“That is the moment we are in today. We want the word preached in a language that goes straight to the heart of many Kenyans who today do not have the Bible in their language,” the Deputy President added.
In his devotional sermon, Rev. Dr. David Oginde, the presiding bishop of CITAM, commended President Uhuru for declaring that he will not sign the Parliamentary Service Bill 2018 awarding MPs hefty perks.