Tribute to Archbishop Gitari for speaking against societal evil

By Willy Mutunga

Of all Archbishop David Gitari’s sermons that I have heard over the years, his best must be the one entitled Mene Mene Tekel Uparsin, based on a reading of Chapter 5 of the book of Daniel. It was delivered at All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi, on July 13, 1997.

Six days earlier, the presidential guard and motorcade personnel stormed the All Saints Cathedral, beat up and tear-gassed people who were praying in church, among them activists and demonstrators who had taken refuge there.

The National Convention Executive Council (NCEC), a coalition of civil society organisations and opposition political parties, had called for demonstrations to demand a new Constitution and celebrate the undying spirit of Saba Saba invoked by Kenneth Matiba and Charles Rubia when they first demanded the end to Kanu’s one-party dictatorship and called for a public meeting at Kamukunji on July 7, 1990.

Although Matiba and Rubia were detained before the day of the public meeting, Kenyans went to Kamukunji and engaged the state’s machinery in running battles.

It was at All Saints Cathedral that two leaders of NCEC, the Rev Timothy Njoya and Kepta Ombati, were beaten up and maimed. In the case of Dr Njoya, he owed his life to Kenyan and foreign journalists who piled their bodies as his shield to prevent him from being shot.

The pews were bloodied; some furniture inside was broken and the now exploded teargas canisters were littered all over the floor of the cathedral. The desecration of All Saints Cathedral was complete.

On July 13, 1997, All Saints Cathedral was cleansed in a service attended by many Kenyans. Dr Gitari, then head of the Anglican Church in Kenya, gave the sermon of the day, entitled “The Writing on the Wall”. It was a very powerful, solemn and pointed sermon preceded – as it was – by the singing of “Onward Christian Soldiers,” an address by Hon Kamau Icharia (his testimony was that during the Mau Mau War of Independence some freedom fighters took refuge in a church and the British soldiers pursuing them did not enter), and the reading of letters from many prominent church leaders all over the world expressing solidarity with Kenyans.

These messages were read slowly and clearly, in Queen’s English, by the then Chancellor of the Anglican Church, my colleague and President of the Court of Appeal, Judge Paul Kihara Kariuki.

For most of the people who attended the service, the words “Mene Mene Tekel Uparsin” will never be forgotten. Their interpretation was given again and again, and by the time Dr Gitari finished his sermon, they had been committed to the memory of all, even for those in attendance who may have had poor memories. So, Mene meant “God has counted the days until your kingdom will come to an end.” Tekel meant, “You have been weighed on the scales, and found not good enough.”

Lastly, Uparsin meant, “Your kingdom is being taken away from you. It will be divided among the Medes and Persians.”

The parallel being drawn was clear to all present and when Dr Gitari said that God’s writing was not yet on the walls of State House, all present thought he was restraining the soldiers of Christ from marching on to State House.

I do not blame Dr Gitari for this. He acted as a great leader. It was not the time for such a march on State House. Wars are not for emotions only. They are not parties. Wars are serious affairs that cannot be called out in a church sermon.

Kenyans will perhaps remember a Kenyan leader who promised his followers that he would lead them in storming State House. He was very lucky that his supporters settled on “storming” the VIP toilet at Uhuru Park instead.

On July 15, 1997, President Moi met religious leaders at State House, among them Dr Gitari. He had been persuaded to accompany his brethren, from what I later confirmed, against his better judgment. The religious leaders posed for a photograph with the President, carried in newspapers in many parts of the world. I recall a friend calling from Canada enquiring what the visit to State House achieved.

“Were the religious leaders reading anything on the walls of State House?” he asked. To many of us, this visit forgave the desecration of All Saints Cathedral. The visit was also a major retreat from the struggles for a new Constitution.

I believe the lesson of the sermon and the story that unfolded thereafter is this. The story told in Chapter 5 of the Book of Daniel teaches us that God’s prophets read what God has written without fear or favour.

Kenyan religious leaders are God’s prophets of today. It is their divine mission to give political leaders the messages others would not tell them. It is not in their ministries to be intimidated by societal leaders or fail to speak out against evil in our midst.

May the Almighty Allah/God rest Dr Gitari’s soul in eternal peace.

Writer is the Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kenya