As the world celebrated Valentine’s Day, Kenyan leaders led by President William Ruto camped at the Nyayo Stadium to pray for rains and an end to the drought that has cost the country lives and livelihoods.
Media and humanitarian agencies' reports reveal that more than 5 million Kenyans have been affected by the drought, with Turkana as one of the most affected counties. People and animals are dying day by day due to the dry spell. This, without a doubt, is a grave matter.
The scene was gripping, but perhaps the First Lady’s dramatic falling to her knees to pray for rain was the day’s highlight. The action elicited mixed reactions from Kenyans; some were impressed by the devotion and commitment of the First Lady to her faith. Others felt faith needs to be backed by action to avert the current climate crisis. I subscribe to the latter group.
It is good that Ruto is fully aware of the seriousness of climate change. It is also perfect that his administration has committed to taking climate action since his inauguration to almost all of the regional and international congregations he has attended.
However, while the President promoted the event, stating, “All Kenyans should pray for our country so that God can bestow favour and blessings to our nation Kenya," he should also be taking specific steps and actions to ensure his administration does its bit on the climate puzzle.
Faith is essential and certainly has a place in people’s lives. However, it is dangerous and will even exacerbate the climate crisis if we bank all our currency on prayers and do nothing to deal with the human actions/inactions that have driven us to the precipice of the climate crisis we are in.
A crisis costing us up to Sh500 billion annually as economic losses from the climate change impacts. Money that would have gone a long way to support and improve the economy.
While prayers are important, I implore the First Lady, as the nation's mother, to also do the hard work needed to address and curb the climate change impacts. These impacts take many faces, like droughts, famines, floods and locust invasions, among others.
We need to prioritise how, as a nation, we can be more resilient and continue to lead the pathway to a 100 per cent community-led renewable energy transition.
For instance, we urgently and dearly need government intervention to stop more people from ditching clean energy and reverting to dirty energy.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that as of June 2022, 35 per cent of Kenyans had stopped using cooking gas and had gone back to firewood—because of increased gas prices. This should disturb us all, especially government, if we are serious about addressing the climate change problem.
The First Lady has a place in the climate plight. Her involvement is critical if we are to avert the climate apocalypse. She would be instrumental in raising awareness on the issue and resources (both in kind and monetary) for this country and the rest of the continent.
Let us keep praying but remember, faith is nothing without action. And prayers cannot take the place of our responsibility.
