KENYA: The Church and the Nyayo State

by Paddy Benson 

Valonia Press, Sevenoaks. 2026 147pp

Review by Rev. Dr. Chris Sugden

https://anglicanmainstream.org/article/the-church-and-the-nyayo-state/

Daniel Arap Moi, as president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002, christened his approach “Nyayo” claiming to follow in the ‘footsteps’ of the revered independence leader and first President of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta.

This was eventually a piece of PR to suggest he was continuing the policies of Kenyatta. But he radically changed the centres of power in Kenya, to be lodged in the Kenya African Nationalist Union (KANU) which was the only political party allowed in the ‘new’ one party state.

Arap Moi, who made a Christian profession, was chairman of KANU and President of Kenya. It was nationalist policy and any disagreement was judged to be disloyalty to the nation. By 1982 anxiety was growing that  ‘Nyayoism’ might be another word for a presidential personality cult and dictatorial rule.  But Benson gives a unique analysis of Moi and Nyayoism as an ideology.  Kenyatta had excluded the people from formal political processes. Moi included them but on condition of the loyalty required of all members of the leadership corps to support one another in implementing a single vision for society. The church no less than other institutions was required to follow this as well.

In this situation, Bishop David Gitari of Embu, subsequently Archbishop of Kenya, preached a number of sermons on various occasions, such as the launch of an archdeaconry, confirmation service, and consecration of bishops. He did not enter into the politics of the situation. He based his sermons on careful biblical exposition that called for truth and justice. In doing so the sermons lay out a solid grounding for the church to be concerned for the wellbeing of the whole community, not just of its membership.  He and his colleagues engaged with the realities of political power and did not spend time lamenting the theoretical weakness of the ruling philosophy. He did not offer a theological alternative to Nyayoism.

While the State believed in a doctrine of progress under the guidance of divine providence, the Church was conscious of being in the shadow of God’s impending judgement.  Gitari engaged in prophecy which aims at people as personifications of institutions and situations which perpetuate circumstances contrary to the will of God for the world. And Nyayoism prized loyalty about truth.

His critique was tantamount to treason and he was fiercely criticized in Parliament and the press but the church remained one of the few remaining organisations with licence to dissent.

Archdeacon (in the CofE) Paddy Benson was a close colleague of Bishop Gitari from 1978 – 1989 and his acting Director of Communications. He recorded the whole episode in his MPhil thesis completed within 15 years of the events he described.  His thesis is published more or less as he wrote it 30 years ago. It provides an eyewitness account of the events and an analysis of the different ideologies of the party, local leadership, the nation state and the engagement of the church.

His study is of value to anyone wanting to understand the development of Kenya and to see a model of engagement by senior Anglicans and Presbyterians with issues of justice and truth in national life. 

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