Wamuzi News Ke
A senior bishop ridiculed ex-Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and made a strong claim that President William Ruto is going to be in power for two terms during the main church service. The video that portrays this shocking situation has been widely shared on social media and has started intense discussions all over the country.
This is an incident that the public has not witnessed previously, that is, a clergy member making such a bold statement in politics. The event took place at a crowded Sunday service where political and religious individuals alike came to worship.
The criticism of Gachagua—who has by now become a focal figure in the political drama of the country following the end of his deputy presidency in 2024 and who has been accused of using divisive rhetoric and even alienating parts of the population—played by the bishop was so intense that he even got to the point of pointing at the president’s leadership as the most competent in the country and Ruto winning ballots in the 2027 general elections.
The discourse is an exceptional case when a religious leader has so openly mixed faith and party politics at a service, thus bringing the long-lived tensions of political factions into a religious arena that most Kenyans consider sacred. Political observers assert that the remarks highlight the growing intertwining of the political allegiance and the spiritual leadership during the present elections.
Gachagua, a controversial but well-liked politician, has throughout the past year been constantly in the media; he has been accused of trying to limit his influence within certain communities and institutions by political operatives. He has then raised the issue of church services being intentionally made less accessible for him and of his critics using religious platforms to overshadow his political power—claims that his supporters find very believable while his opponents reject them with anger.
President Ruto, who has been a prominent supporter of the incorporation of moral and development objectives in governance and took office in September 2022, was the fifth president of Kenya and, according to the constitution, is entitled to run for a second term.
The bishop’s proclamation of Ruto’s persistent mandate—uttered before a confirming audience—indicates a daring alignment from a sector that is typically expected to be neutral, which in turn leads to discussions about the influence of religious leaders in shaping political narratives.
The bishop’s speech quickly became heated, with a section of the congregation giving a round of applause to the endorsement while another section looked shocked at the mixing of spiritual message and direct political preaching. The event did not take long to become the main topic of social media discussions, with people of different political views expressing their distress or support to the same extent.
It is said by the observers that the clergyperson, by directly forecasting Ruto’s second term and questioning Gachagua’s political competency inside the place of worship, had already crossed the unspoken boundary that demarcates church influence from partisan politics.
Political analysts warn that such overt religious intervention in partisan disputes could deepen polarization ahead of the 2027 election, especially in regions where church affiliation is deeply intertwined with community identity and voting behavior. Should other faith leaders follow suit, the traditionally neutral pulpit may become a new front in electoral strategy, potentially complicating Kenya’s efforts to maintain peaceful, issue-based political engagement.
