A slip of the tongue by State House operative, Farouk Kibet has set internet ablaze with Kenyans wondering whether indeed it was a slip or involuntary confirmation.
While attending an Interdenominational Church Service on Sunday May 11 at Nandi Hills Stadium, the president’s majordomo said in Swahili “sisi Tunaabudu Shetani kanisani” (We go to church to worship the Devil).
Immediately social media was ablaze with speculation whether after all Kibet had not just made a startling admission of what they actually do. Others thought it was a slip of the tongue as indeed a bumbling Kibet quickly corrected himself and clarified that he meant to say they worship God so that the devil may flee from the church.
Whatever the truth about the utterances debate has been sparked on the place of religion and it’s corresponding space in Government.
People have been quick to point out that the Kenyan Heads of State, apart from Mzee Jomo Kenyatta who was an African Animist by religious affiliation there’s always some unverified speculation of the true religious affiliation of the president and by extension their cronies.
Kenya’s second president Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi was a staunch member of the African Inland Church (AIC) but he never denied association with frequent Wednesday evening visits at the Freemasons Lodge on Valley Road.
Moi was a secret admirer of the clergy of the Pentecostal Valley Road church and one Dr. Arthur Kitonga of Deliverance Church whom he considered his spiritual advisor.
The third president of Kenya Emilio Mwai Kibaki was a Catholic, broadly speaking, but he showed open disdain for religious zealotry. His preoccupation with golf and alcohol every Sunday morning at the Muthaiga Golf Club was an open secret.
Then comes Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, the fourth, and Kenya’s most popular president todate. He was an Anglican, if his fleeting appearances in church are anything to go by. His love for the tipple, rugby and life on the fast lane are still the storyline of many tales, true or conjured, about life in State House.
When Dr. William Samoei Ruto came to State House people associated him with being a one-time pentecostal preacher. The First Lady got a team of intercessors, ostensibly, on a twenty-four-hour-rota prayer session. People expected humility, compassion, and divine indulgence to define the Executive.
Well, do leaders worship Satan?
Yes.
According to the Bible immediately Jesus was baptized he was taken up to a high point and shown all the dominions of the earth, by who? By Satan and he said: “I’ll give you these, if you make one act of worship (abeyance) to me!”
Jesus was no fool, he could have told Satan that he was lying, he had no ability to give to someone what was not his. Instead Jesus reminded Satan of who rightfully deserves human worship.
In 1984 following a spate of inexplicable accidents on Thika Road, Likoni Ferry crossing and murmuring among boarding school students that teachers were introducing them to a new religion, the government set up a Commission of Inquiry into Devil Worship.
The commission, made up of prominent religious authorities returned a finding that was handed back to president Daniel Moi but has never been made public to this day.
Speaking errors are common in public whether or not under pressure. However, the dominant sentiment online remains one of suspicion, with many netizens insisting the words spoken were deliberate.
Some insist it was a Freudian slip, pointing to the idea that it reflected hidden thoughts surfacing unintentionally.
Whatever the truth behind Farouk Kibet’s faltering, the initial words had already made their mark.
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