Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto and his allies have attended the National Prayers Day event at Nyayo Stadium, Nairobi, to seek divine intervention in ending the drought and hunger crisis affecting the country.
Ruto, who invited Kenyans to attend the event, said that even though the government had set aside seeds for the planting season, the initiative would not succeed without the provision of rain from God.
He emphasized the need for divine intervention to prevent further deaths from drought.
However, Jubilee Party strategist and communication specialist Pauline Njoroge has criticized the government’s spending of Ksh50 million ($450,000) on the event.
Njoroge said that, as a Christian, Ruto should have used the money to feed the hungry rather than wasting it on the occasion.
She questioned how many hungry people the Ksh50 million could have fed, adding that the church could have asked for the money to be used for that purpose instead.
“Happy National Prayers Day! Just imagining how many hungry people the Ksh 50 million the state has used to prepare that event could have fed on this Valentine’s Day… Yes!
“How many people could have felt the love of Christ if the church had said that money be used to feed them, and even added more?” Njoroge wrote on her Facebook page.
Njoroge’s criticism comes at a time when Kenya is grappling with a hunger crisis affecting millions of people. The crisis has been attributed to drought, conflict, and economic hardship.
The government has declared the drought a national disaster, and aid organizations have been calling for urgent intervention to prevent further deaths.
The cost of food has also been rising, making it unaffordable for many Kenyans.
