President William Ruto has praised the church for taking "its place" in the leadership of Kenya.
Speaking during National Prayer Day at Nyayo Stadium, Ruto said the church had taken a back seat in the running of the country.
"Leo nitalala mapema na nitaamka kesho kuchelewa na nitalala na viatu because I'm a very proud Kenyan that our nation, especially the body of Jesus Christ in Kenya has woken up.
"I am very proud that the church has rediscovered its place in the governance of Kenya," he said.
Ruto calls for prayers
The President had called for national prayer day today to pray for rain in the country as drought continues to ravage 23 counties.
“I am really pleading with all of you no matter your religion that on Tuesday you kindly show up at Nyayo stadium or wherever you will be in your spare time.
"We pray for the current situation. We don’t want any more Kenyans to die because of drought. We will pray for rain.
“We have a lot of interventions like the construction of dams and the distribution of fertilisers but all these will not be possible if we don’t have rain," Ruto said during a church service in Nakuru on Sunday, February 12.
Last week, the National Drought Steering Committee warned that Kenyans should brace for tougher times ahead which may last until October.
The chair of the committee Peter Ndegwa said the number of those facing starvation may soon reach six million up from 4.3 million currently.
“The sad reality is that the current situation is here to stay,” said Ndegwa.
The committee has so far raised Sh650 million towards mitigation measures and hopes to raise one billion by the end of February.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) is also warning that the drought situation is worsening in the pastoral regions of the country.
According to FEWSNET, most water sources are drying up in many areas.
The report indicates that people are travelling on average three to 17 kilometers to access water, while livestock trek 10 to 33 kilometers to reach water points.
“Livestock milk production, a key source of food and income, remains well below normal, with livestock producing from zero to 0.9 litres per household per day,” says the report on the ongoing drought situation in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) in the counties.
Overall, the ongoing drought continues to severely hinder household access to food and income, resulting in widespread crisis,” it says.
Last week, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua revealed that Kenya lost livelihoods valued at Sh187 billion in the last year.
“We are in a crisis. No doubt, the world is bleeding from the impacts of climate change. Kenya is bleeding from the impact of climate change.
To demonstrate the impact of climate change, Kenya has consecutively missed five rain seasons. We are deep into one of the longest droughts in four decades,” he said.
The drought continues to worsen in 21 of the 23 arid and semi-arid counties.
This has been attributed to the four failed consecutive rain seasons and the late-onset and poorly distributed 2022 short rains.
