Abstract

JOSHUA, Stephen Muoki  and  KAPINDE, Stephen Asol. "Pulpit power" and the unrelenting voice of Archbishop David Gitari in the democratisation of Kenya, 1986 to 1991. Historia [online]. 2016, vol.61, n.2, pp.79-100. ISSN 2309-8392.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2309-8392/2016/v61n2a4.

This article sets out to analyse the role of pulpit preaching in the struggle towards the re-emergence of multi-party democracy in Kenya. It argues that through "pulpit power", certain clerics, notably David Gitari, Alexander Muge, Henry Okullu and Timothy Njoya, initiated a process of transformation as individual activists at a time when the state had effectively silenced voices that demanded political change. It then moves on to chronicle David Gitari's sermons as a case in point to demonstrate that his political sermons promoted a culture of defiance in the country and marked the genesis of the so called "second liberation" in Kenya. It relies on archival sources and correspondence material as well as a number of searching in-depth oral interviews.

Keywords : David Gitari; clergy; Daniel arap Moi; political sermons; democracy in Kenya; activism; Anglican Church.

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