• Odede is taking over as a presiding Bishop of CITAM, replacing Bishop David Oginde who has served for about ten years.
• Odede previously served at Nairobi Baptist Church.
Image: PSCU
President Uhuru Kenyatta has assured the new Christ Is The Answer (CITAM) leader of his administration’s support.
Speaking during the consecration service of Reverend Calisto Odede at the CITAM Karen, the president asked Odede to work closely with the government, just as the outgoing leadership.
Odede is taking over as a presiding Bishop of CITAM, replacing Bishop David Oginde who has served for about ten years.
Odede previously served at Nairobi Baptist Church.
Uhuru thanked the outgoing Bishop Oginde for his great service to the church and country and wished him success in retirement.
“I wish you every success as you embark on the challenge ahead of you. We hear a lot of people talk about big shoes and the impossibilities of filling the big shoes. I believe as the famous poem says, do not compare yourself with others because by so doing, all you become is vain and full of despair," Uhuru said.
He added that:
“There's no need to compare yourself with others. God has given you, your shoes and he has made you for a time as this. Stand up and work, tomorrow there will be others."
The president also called on the church to work more closely with the government in the delivery of services to Kenyans.
He noted the state and the church need to synergise each other saying, it is prudent for leaders whether secular or religious to cooperate so as to achieve the common objective of serving humanity.
"You can always count on my support, my Government’s support as we move together State and Church to do God’s will. Both of us are here to serve and we need each other and we need to work together. By doing so we are able to achieve our objectives much more quickly and deliver the needs of our people," Uhuru said.
During the launch of the Building Bridges Initiative report at the Bomas of Kenya, Oginde asked Deputy President William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga to end their enmity for the sake of the nation.
Oginde pleaded with the politicians to allow the current proposals to lay a foundation for the future of the nation.
"In this nation, we have a developed a very dangerous tendency of politicising everything even a very important matter as Constitution-making gets shrouded in political intrigues," Oginde said.
He asked politicians to allow the current process to objectively lay a foundation for the future of this nation.
"The laws you make today will tie your hands and feet tomorrow. The liberties you take away today will imprison you tomorrow,” he said.