Gathaka, The Bible and Democracy in AfricaWhat is clear is that he always set to challenge the things which would
democracy demands and things that would reverse democracy.
Who knows...?
In the sermon he preached two weeks after the attempted coup dā etat on
1st August 1982 he challenges those in authority to ensure that they
exercise justice in order not to provoke chaos in the country. He appeals
to those who have access to those in authority to give proper advice and
not to fear to say the truth. The sermon is based in the story of Esther,
from the book of Esther and entitled, Who knows...? (Esther 4:14b).^52
This was the challenge that Queen Esther was given by her cousin Mor-
decai when Herman the Prime Minister had planned to kill all the Jews.
Gitari first shows how the emperor received the wrong advice and di-
vorced his first queen Vashti. He later had been advised by Herman how
the Jews were being disobedient to the emperor and therefore decided
that they should all be killed because of their disloyalty to the emperor.
Gitari narrates the story with the images that his hearers understood
while at the same time being true to the text. Then he applies to the
situation in Kenya. He decries the failure of the Parliament on 9th June
1982 to protect the ideals of democracy by agreeing to entrench section
2A which turned Kenya to a de jure one party country thus curtailing the
freedom of association and in deed political freedom of choice. Gitari
calls that bad advice.
In addition Gitari asked those who were in the cabinet also to give
proper advise to the President. He made the same appeal to those in
administrative position. Then he called on everyone who has some re-
sponsible position to exercise it well. He appealed to the patriotism of
the citizens to report those who might be planning to change the gov-
ernment unconstitutionally. He however warns that the situation could
be averted if Kenyans were willing to work for justice and peace and if
they care the welfare of the poor and the disadvantaged. He calls on
everyone to be an instrument of peace. Peace is a theme that runs
through his sermons.
(^52) Gitari, In Season and Out of Season, 36-42.