MAL54:23 | Page 97

Ochieng , shocked and inexplicably alarmed , crept surreptitiously behind the living room door to eavesdrop on the cause of the drama fully aware that he would have faced serious disciplinary action had he been caught skulking behind the door .

The gist of the drama was that Ochieng ’ s uncle had informed his father that a prophet in the new sect that had broken away from the main church had prophesied that the world would end that December and had come to share the procedure for repentance and acceptance .

Apparently the chosen few who were to accompany the Christ had to go on a penance and wear the special clothes that they were wearing after renouncing all worldly things so that the Savior would identify them on his arrival to whisk them to paradise .

Ochieng ’ s father had calmly tried to quote the scriptures that no man would know neither the day nor the time of the second coming to which the brother said that was how many would perish for lack of knowledge which has been imparted to the chosen few .

Matters got out of hand when Ochieng ’ s uncle and aunt started praying loudly and wailing in an attempt to cast out the obstinate demon of doubt in Ochieng ’ s father ’ s heart as he got progressively livid and irritated .

Ochieng ’ s father had had enough and he ordered his brother and his wife out of his house and compound asking them to take their hearsay and nonsense back to where they had come from and to leave him and his family in peace .

The world did not end that December but that disturbing incidence left a deep impression on Ochieng as he could not comprehend how a well-educated man as his uncle was , could entertain such farfetched beliefs .

Ochieng was told that his uncle and many adherents of the sect had sold off all their earthly possessions and crossed the border into Uganda in October of that year and he was never heard of thereafter . That was a bizarre and an unexpected outcome .

Ochieng was to later find out that the world is full of fanatical sects in all manner of religions but the sects that tend to get media attention are the ones that manage to convince their followers of the need to take life in order to gain salvation .

“

It ’ s sometimes difficult for politicians to remember that Kenya is not a theocracy but a democracy and although claimed Christians form majority of the population it ’ s not lost to many that labeling oneself as Christian does not bestow holiness or goodness in them . There are a lot of wolves in snowy sheepskins out there - Kenyans beware !

It was surreal to learn of such a sect in an advanced country but Switzerland is where a religious group , The Order of the Solar Temple , following their charismatic leader led to the murder-suicide of over seventy adherents .

To further illustrate that no country is immune to such extreme beliefs , a selfproclaimed prophet arose in America and led a sect calling itself the Heaven ’ s Gate and their prophet and leader organized a mass suicide of about forty followers .

Closer to home , in Uganda a sect called The Movement of the Restoration of the Ten Commandments resulted in the death of over eight hundred adherents who perished believing that they were following the will of God as told by their leaders .

Perhaps the most dramatic cult leader was the infamous Jim Jones who supervised the murder-suicide of around a thousand people in Jonestown , Guyana . All died convinced of the divine message of their illustrious leader .

A cult is defined as a system of religious veneration and devotion which is usually directed towards a particular figure or an object where the adherents seem mesmerized and unable to make their own independent decisions without direction from the leader .

Ochieng cites these extreme cases just to highlight what serious outcomes can result from the blind following of a cult leader . When a whole lot of people transfer their thinking process to an individual this is always a ready recipe for disaster .

So , the correct reaction to what has happened in Shakahola is not to pontificate about how such a thing is possible or to comment of the sheep-like behavior of the followers but to appreciate that such things do happen and how to mitigate against such occurrences .

When an issue falls in the realm of freedom of worship and association then it is important to remember that since one cannot regulate emotions , a mechanism needs to be found to ensure the safety of the followers , since they are also Kenyans .

In the runup to the last elections Mama Ida Odinga sparked a religious furor when she boldly asserted that the proliferation of religious sects was detrimental to the country and the churches needed to be regulated .

She was referring in particular to the need to regulate the churches for consistency and relevance with the aim of rooting out charlatans that had turned religion into businesses and were conning and manipulating their followers .

Of interest was that political aspirants , aware of the power of the church , had turned pulpits into political stages and were actively hunting for votes by getting endorsement by the clergy by pretending to be seeking God ’ s blessings for leadership .

Timely and hefty donations and a chance to address the congregation was a sure way to campaign and during the election period there are many churches that rushed through prayers and the word to handover the platform to politicians .

As expected , the backlash from politicians and the churches themselves was swift and harsh and Ida had to offer an apology , not so much that she was wrong but to give relief to her husband who had to bear the brunt of her statement .

Many chose to crucify her on the political cross and purposely decided to ignore her message that was both poignant and a heartfelt truth . We , as Kenyans , were attacking the messenger not the message .