The leader of the ODM, Raila Odinga, has criticized the church for its extensive political involvement and called it a danger to democracy and sound government.

Keep politics out of the church, Raila Odinga exhorts

Raila criticized a segment of the country's religious leadership in his Christmas Day sermon at Nyamira ACK church in Bondo Siaya County.
He accused them of supporting democratic values at the expense of pleasing the government.

Raila wants religious leaders to keep bringing the nation together and preaching for justice, as some are contributing to the country's issues. 

She was sorry to see the Anglican church leadership encouraging the politicians, especially those of Azimio, who had petitioned the elections due to the rigging.

The leadership encouraged them to withdraw the petitions in the interest of communal unity. Shame!" stated Raila.

Raila urged the church to be extremely wary of political leaders eager to exploit the church to their advantage. "Allowing politicians to use churches for political agitation would violate the church's duty to protect the pulpit.

It is never appropriate to utilize the church as a political platform. We never engage in political games in the churches, the speaker asserted. Instead, he urged the church to strive for justice by using its power. 

Along with Senator Oburu Oginga of Siaya, Governor James Orengo, former Governor Cornel Rasanga, Bondo MP Gideon Ochanda, and former Governor Cornel Rasanga accompanied Raila.

He also expressed hope that the New Year 2023 would be better for Kenyans, noting that 2022 had been a challenging year for them due to several economic and social difficulties they had to face.

The end of Covid 19 was a tough time for Kenyans. Still, it was also a time of other tragedies, including famine, which led to many members of our society passing away from hunger, according to Raila.

He expressed confidence that things will improve for Kenyans in the upcoming year.