Hired thugs walked into All Saints’ Cathedral in Nairobi in June, broke up a post-budget dialogue that civil society groups had organised, beat participants and smashed property. Church leaders condemned it. So did activists and politicians from both sides of the aisle.
Fred Matiang’i, who once ran the Interior ministry, called it “a shameful act” and said it showed the leadership crisis he had warned about back in 2022.
An opinion column in the Standard argues that the harder question is a different one. Why did the attack stir so little public anger? A generation ago, the column suggests, an assault on a sanctuary would have drawn far more.
A moral voice that was earned
The writer points to what the Church has meant in Kenya. It ran schools and hospitals. During the fight for multiparty politics and constitutional change, its clergy spoke up for human rights and told those in power that office exists to serve citizens. Bishop Alexander Muge and Father John Anthony Kaiser are the names the column offers as proof, and it stresses that their authority was won at great personal cost, not handed down.
Independence was the source of that credibility, the column says, not closeness to government.
What Kenyans say now
Kenya is still among the most religious countries in the world, and surveys keep ranking religious leaders high on trust. Yet recent research cited in the piece finds unease. Most Kenyans want faith to inform public values. Many also doubt the ties between politicians and churches. Some believe donations from politicians to churches often come from corrupt money, and others want religion and the State kept apart.
The column reads this as a demand, not a retreat from faith: people want a Church that answers to no one in power.
Two ways to read the attack
First, the writer says, it was an attack on worship, on peaceful assembly and on the open civic space churches have long protected. Every Kenyan should condemn it flatly.
Second, it raises an awkward point for the clergy. Has their closeness to political figures changed how some people see them? The column concedes that the perception may not be fair. It adds that trust depends on how an institution looks as well as what it does.
The writer holds up Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Africa earlier this year. Addressing political leaders, the pope spoke plainly about corruption, justice and ethical leadership, and told governments that authority means service to citizens, not a chance to get rich.
The call before 2027
With the 2027 General Election approaching, politicians will once again turn up at church looking for legitimacy. The column does not object to churches taking part in public affairs, since the Gospel speaks to justice, accountability, peace and human dignity. Its demand is an urgent meeting of church leaders before the vote. In its words, Kenya needs a Church “whose integrity, independence and prophetic courage remain beyond question.”
