U.S. Election Divides Kenyan Christians
The Rev. Kathy Kanini-Oganga believes Donald Trump will still serve his second term as President of the United States, despite the fact that Joe Biden has been declared President-Elect.
To Rev. Oganga, it is not just a matter of the ballot box in the U.S. but a vote on siding with God and what his will is for the world. Rev. Oganga has carved a name for herself as the face of the pro-life movement in Kenya.
Last year, the former HR executive with Kenya’s number one radio station shocked Kenyans with her explicit billboards warning about the dangers of abortion. It was part of a drawn out battle that pitted her and her church against the mushrooming pro-choice movement in the east African nation.
On Nov. 7, as vote counting was still continuing in the US, Rev. Oganga, a self-professed Trump supporter, wrote to her followers on Facebook:
“We rejoice when there is rampant and very evident voter fraud and Biden has promised to overthrow Roe v Wade changes in all states in 100 days. Absolutely! Let the babies die. You do not need a prophet to tell you some things. It falls under values. God help us! I’ll continue in prayer. And when all is said and done if you get 92% bad press and get this far, it says a lot about Trump. Many would have run ages ago with tail between their legs. Can’t wait to see if this gets to Supreme Court of the United States. Never a dull moment. It is not over just yet. And be careful what you rejoice over; we shall give an account on the day of judgment. Narrow is the way indeed.”
Rev. Oganga is not alone in this stand; many evangelicals in Kenya are convinced that Trump is the best man to further what they say is God’s agenda for Kenya and Africa. Well-respected Bishop Mark Kariuki, who heads Deliverance Church in Kenya, said he and his followers were supporting Trump because he stands for good morals. Kariuki recalled that when the then-U.S. President Barack Obama visited Kenya, the churches told him to keep his LGBTQ agenda out of his father’s homeland.
But not all Christians agree with this position. Lizzy Yogo, who is a worship leader at the Royal Kingdom Embassy Church in downtown Nairobi, says elections should be separated from one’s faith.
“Your vote is a matter of decisions based upon whatever issues, values, personas, characteristics, etc,” she said. “You choose to use to decide where to place your checkmark on a ballot. Your vote is not a matter of salvation or a determining factor of your Christianity. People, please stop the madness.”
Pastor Edward Munene of the International Christian Church in Mombasa, an Assemblies of God congregation, charges that the U.S. elections have made some Christians behave in un-Christian manner.
The pastor was forced to pull down a Facebook post in which he said that God had shown him that he had rejected Trump. “I can handle it when people talk badly about me but when the attacks become blasphemous it is different,” he said.
He had posted on Facebook:
“I just woke up and it’s 2.50AM in Kenya. I started praying for the US and God said to me, ‘Donald Trump will not be president. He was my choice, but I rejected him because the church failed to disciple him in my ways and he ended up not doing what I wanted.’”
In K’ogelo Village, where Obama’s father Barack Hussein Obama was born, locals held mock elections in which a local “Biden” trounced “Trump” amidst a celebration.
“I have met Biden thrice when I went to America and indeed he is a good man. Having worked with my grandson for eight years, I am sure that he will make America great,” said Mama Sarah Obama, 98, Obama’s grandmother. I hope that he will also help Africa the way my grandson did. He has what it takes to lead and I would only urge him to remain strict and respect God for him to succeed,” she told local media.
Political activist Jerome Ogola thinks Kenyan churches are hypocritical in not supporting Biden. He said:
“Kenya's Evangelical churches (whatever that means) support Trump, because his rival Biden is likely to follow in Obama's footsteps in supporting same-sex marriage. Isn't this perplexing? Back at home, here in Kenya, the same church doesn't just support corruption, but is an accomplice in the vice. They are the biggest recipient of stolen money through donations. In exchange they offer their podiums to the thieves (politicians) to insult each other, fan ethnic hatred and animosity on a scale that can ignite the country. Corruption begets poverty. Corruption cripples the provision of services, including essential ones, like health services, which affects the country's entire population.”
But George Wellman, a political commentator, believes Trump has been a victim of biased media. In an interview with Religion Unplugged he said that Trump stands a good chance of winning the presidency if he went to court:
“Study the 2000 elections. It is very suspicious and odd how things went. Trump is demanding a recount and wants the court to decide. Al Gore in 2000 was president-elect for 37 days. I support Republicans because they are the party of inclusion and tolerance. The Republican party freed the slaves and brought an end to segregation. The problem is that the media twist things and represent them incorrectly. It’s a perverted perspective. They truly are the mouthpiece of Satan.”
Tom Osanjo is a Nairobi-based correspondent for Religion Unplugged. He is a former parliamentary reporter and has covered sports, politics and more at Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper.