Everyone in Kenya is corrupt, even grandmothers, wrote the venerable Michaela Wrong, the author of "It’s Our Turn To Eat", in the Foreign Policy magazine. So why do we get surprised when a church leader cons his congregation?
There is no doubt that corruption is still rampant in Kenya such that as she said; “newspapers warn about it in editorials, columnists denounce it, beleaguered civil society groups lament it.”
So what is so bad about a church pastor trying his level best to relieve people of money that they are so willing to give?
Though Kanyari’s acts are outrageous, there are those who will think of the pastor as a 'pastorprenuer' (remember we already have 'tenderpreneur'), a man of God with an eye for business opportunities.
The thousands who throng his church for spiritual nourishment are no different than the mammoth rally attending a home-coming party for a politician after an electoral win.There are many of them. But Pastor Kanyari surely beats them all.His message speaks to the mind and heart of many.
Like an astute businessman, he packaged his message in a memorable phrase: Panda Mbegu 310. That is catchy. That it is borrowed from the Bible and sounds authentic. Think of Kibaki Tena, YK92, Uhuru na Kazi, Tuko Pamoja.
The difference between Kanyari and the modern politician is that Kanyari’s promises are from God and so, really, it is hard to hold him to account for his prophesies. The politician who promises heaven on earth and Kanyari who promises heavenly bliss are the same. In truth, his acts mirrors our society only that in Kenya, the scale for judging the men of cloth, some would say, is a little skewed. Yet they are products of society.
Everywhere you go in Kenya, whether it is parking your car in the city centre in Nairobi to visit the mortuary, one has to be prepared to give something to have it his way.
We are inherently obsessed with self-gratification and quick gains at all costs. Those virtues that we are supposed to admire in people, like kindness, generosity, openness, honesty and understanding, are in fact, by Kenyan standards, concomitants of human failure, while those traits that are worth detesting, like greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism are viewed as traits of success.
Pastor Victor Kanyari of the Salvation Church Ministries exposed recently by KTN’s investigative programme, Jicho Pevu, is a product of the Kenyan society that glorifies every virtue that contradicts goodness. From the positions of leadership to those at the bottom of the society, if you don’t use your opportunities to the maximum, then society will condemn you for the rest of your life.
Kenya being religiously a capitalist nation, the people of this great Republic will always find some innovative ways of making money. I am sure that many former students of Chemistry will die of envy at realising that potassium permanganate, a chemical readily available in the market, can make one an instant millionaire. Pastor Kanyari therefore is in the eyes of many Kenyans, a genius. He is someone who has put the knowledge he got in school and indeed succeeded to turn it into bread.
By any standard I find the pastor better than many, mostly men, who without any effort want to demand money from others. In the case of Salvation Church Ministries, the people who were conned were clients of the pastor. Many of them wanted to get treatment for illness that have no cure. After all, we all try different medications to solve problems of health. Many Kenyans go to quacks, visit herbalists, knowing that these treatments might not work, but we try it anyway. In the business sense, the Kanyari saga was one of a willing-buyer-willing-seller.
In my view, as Kenyans must look inward to understand whether we are really ready to change the way we perceive corruption and get-rich-quick thoughts. All those condemning Pastor Kanyari are probably themselves involved in one way or another in activities that contradict goodness and uprightness.
There are bigger issues that bedevil our country, including grand corruption scandals such as Goldenberg, Anglo Leasing, Triton and many other unresolved incidences where public money was lost. Sometimes I feel we should just admit that probably part of what has contributed to our promotion to middle income country status as per the recent debasing of our economic position, are these activities that make us all rich.
Because in Kenya today very few live within their means, those lucky to find work today earn less than Sh30,000, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Yet they send their children to a private school, pay rent, take a matatu and eat lunch. Men and women can afford 'mpango wa kandos' and probably become a member of some chama.
To undertake all these activities requires probably not less than Sh50, 000 in conservative terms. So where does all the money come from? The only explanation is that people have alternative sources of livelihood to supplement their meagre incomes. Pastor Kanyari is a representation of an ordinary Kenyan trying to find innovative ways of supplementing his income.
Therefore we must first remove the log in our eye. We need to start teaching our children virtues that reflect good morals. The problem with us today is the double standards we preach. We all preach water and drink wine. Therefore the rot in the society in as much seen now through the reflection of this poor “man of God”, the whole country indeed needs redemption.
This redemption can only come if we all confess to the corrupt practices we undertake and return to virtues of piousness. Until, then I will dare those pointing accusations whether they are ready to throw the first stone.
