A church function First Lady Rachel Ruto was to attend as the chief guest has been cancelled at the last minute in light of an online campaign to deplatform politicians and their associates from places of worship.
Lavington United Church has organised a fundraiser this Sunday, June 30, to mobilise funds to complete the construction of its new sanctuary.
"The pastoral team and church leadership cordially invite you to a fundraising event to complete our New Sanctuary on 30th June 2024, from 10:00 am at Lavington United Church. The chief guest will be Her Excellency Mrs Rachel Ruto, the First Lady of the Republic of Kenya. Your presence and generous contribution will be highly appreciated. Our prayers are with you as you prepare for this event," the invitation read.
The invitation flyer caught the attention of Kenyan social media users who started the campaign to bar politics from the pulpit.
To start the campaign was blogger Mwabili Mwagodi who mobilised his audience on X to pressure the church to stop the function given that it was President William Ruto's spouse attending as the chief guest.
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Mwabili reached out to the leadership of the church explaining why it was not a good idea to have politicians and their associates in church.
According to him, it would be irrational to have the First Lady preside over the event in light of the atrocities meted out to the anti-finance bill protesters supposedly by the state.
He vowed to attend the fundraiser to block it if Rachel would be in attendance.
"I see here you have invited Mrs. Rachel Ruto to your church for a fundraiser. First of all, the money is definitely looted from the taxes I pay to this government of looters. Secondly, her husband is on a killing spree of young men, women and children around the country. This message is to notify you that we are coming for the fundraiser. God bless you," read Mwabili's message to the Lavington church leadership.
Having taken note of the concerns, the church announced it cancelled the fundraiser.
It sent out another flyer communicating the new position.
"The Leadership and Pastoral Team of Lavington United Church wishes to inform members that the event scheduled for 30th June 2024 has been cancelled," it said.
