The spouse of the Deputy President, Pastor Dorcas Rigathi, issued a stern warning to leaders under the Coast Interfaith Council from the Hindu, Muslim, and Christian faiths on Wednesday morning in Kisauni, Mombasa County.
With the rampant abuse of drugs and substance abuse in the country, especially on the Coast, Pastor Dorcas warned that the boy children lost in the streets were easy targets for radicalization and perpetuating gender-based violence.
“When we don’t help the street families, they will be an easy target for radicalization, and gender-based violence. It is my cry as a mother to you. As a mother, these are my children. Let us help them.”
“Our meeting is to bring perspective to this pandemic that has affected the poor and rich, those in informal settlements and posh estates, irrespective of faith, and to discuss what we can do. We will have no answer before God when we neglect this vulnerable population,” lamented Pastor Dorcas.
The faith leaders were from the six counties in the Coast region namely Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Tana River, Taita Taveta, and Lamu.
She also asked the faith leaders to turn their premises into safe havens for alcohol, drug, and substance addicts. “Imagine if every temple, mosque, and church went to the streets and took ten people off the streets to rehabilitate, mentor, and transform them. Won’t the number of street families significantly reduce?” she asked.
Pastor Dorcas urged the leaders to speak to their congregations in the temples, mosques, and churches on a systematic and sustainable approach to breaking the cycle of street families and drug abuse in the country, and even share with the less fortunate.
To kill the supply chain of drugs, Pastor Dorcas asked the religious leaders to advocate for drug peddlers to stop the trade. “How do we remove the boy child from the gutter and into his destiny? Let us also call for the drug barons to stop the business; else a generation is wiped out,” said Mama Dorcas.
The Kenyan coastline is an easy entry point for drugs in the country, with the Coast region having a huge population lost in drugs.
Pastor Dorcas added that the unity of the faith-based organizations was critical in winning the war against drug and substance abuse and saving a generation, noting the wide reach of the organizations in the country.
“If we can come together and address this problem, I believe we can win this war against drugs and substance abuse. This boy child is the seed carrier. If this seed carrier is killed by people intentionally selling poison to our children in the form of drug and substance abuse, we have no future. If we sit back and watch, we are not doing the right thing as religious leaders,” said Mama Dorcas.
“What you are doing, is what we have been praying for,” said the Chairman of the Coast Interfaith Council Bishop Jeremiah Kesekwa.
The Muslim religious leaders were led by Sheikh Khaftan Ali, SUPKEM County Secretary, and the Hindu religious leaders were led by Kishore Shah of the Hindu Council of Kenya.
Also present was the DCC Kisauni, Jamleck Mbuba.
The more than 80 faith leaders committed to developing structured strategies and interventions to help the boy child in the Coast region and also partnering with the office of the spouse of the Deputy President.