Hello, everyone! Do you remember me? I am Wanjiku, the ordinary Kenyan who spends her days hustling to fend for her family.
Well, I’m looking forward to the upcoming elections, with the hope that things will change for the better. Unfortunately, people around me are not as optimistic, and are predicting doom and destruction. I, therefore, thought to write down my hopes and aspirations for these elections in the form of a prayer, believing that God will hear my cry and come through for my homeland.
Lord, you created this land with a purpose. See how many companies from the West keep coming and putting up their huge factories, creating jobs for so many young men from my village. Lord, I ask that peace will prevail so that these investors are convinced to stay in Kenya, and that many others will be persuaded to set up shop here.
Lord, so many people in my village are not able to access the market when it rains due to bad roads. For those who can get to the market, the cost of transport eats into any profit they make. Lord, please send us leaders who will see the potential in my home area (and other rural areas) and develop it so that we can feed the rest of the country, and make a decent living.
Lord, my children keep falling sick, and every time I go the nearest government hospital either the nurses or the doctors are on strike. When the kids are well, they are not able to go to school because the teachers are on strike. Lord, I pray for a lasting solution to the salary and working conditions issues, so that everyone is happy and safe at their workplace.
Lord, my next-door neighbor of many years is like my sister, but now she does not want to talk to me because I am from a different community. I honestly thought we were all members of the Kenyan family. Lord, won’t you teach us Kenyans how to love one another regardless of race, tribe, or social status? Help us to learn to stick together and build our country into a gem that is the envy of many other African countries.
Oh Lord, give us good leaders who will be accountable to the people who elect them. My prayer, Lord, is that the electoral process will be peaceful and that every Kenyan will accept the outcome. Help us all to remember that after the elections are over, we will still have to live together as one family.
Lord, hear my prayer for peace today – bless our land and nation. Amen.
Your loving child, Wanjiku.