Times when prayerful Rachel Ruto comments have left Kenyans scratching their heads

She wakes up in the morning and prays, attends an official function, prays, attends another function, prays some more, checks on her family, has a meal here and there and prays some more. Her life, it seems, is one long prayer session that is disrupted by life.

The first couple are staunch evangelical Christians and have attributed their election win to prayer. Add the Deputy President whose wife is an actual pastor and you have an Executive anchored in prayer.

After landing at State House, Mrs Ruto told religious leaders that they would always be welcome at State House.

"The doors of State House are open and know that you have Mama Rachel here that will always open the doors for you when the president is busy,” she said.

Her husband also walks the talk. "I want you all to speak a word of blessing around this compound. And those who can speak in tongues, please speak in tongues around this compound," said President Ruto.

"I'll ask 30 to 40 members of the clergy to pray over this building (State House). To you all, don't be in a hurry to leave. Walk around State House as you pray in tongues. Let everyone know that we are finally here."

Back to the First Lady, it seems that this prayerful life brings her a lot of heat because she says some things that probably make sense to her and her prayer circle but to the rest of the country, it comes off differently.

There is no problem with praying, but even the Bible says that Faith without action is dead. So, our First Lady, while well-meaning, ends up saying things that even pastors find strange.

Whenever problems arise in the country, Mama Rachel often turns to prayers. Her outrageous statements have left Kenyans shocked, confused, and at times in stitches.

She even claimed recently that the shilling's appreciation against the dollar was a result of prayer. Now, I am not dismissing the power of prayer but can we put this on prayer surely?

This week, she paused her prayer session long enough to say something that had people scratching their heads and wondering what was happening.

Speaking during a thanksgiving service at KICC on Monday, Mrs Ruto claimed with a straight face that Uganda has been blessed agriculturally because of the East African revival that swept the country in the 1930s, where 'God blessed them with fertile land and rains.'

It's these prayers, according to the First Lady, that saw Ugandans start planting their crops without fertiliser.

"In Kenya we see our President talk about fertilisers for our farmers. In Uganda, they don't use fertilisers. Their land is very fertile and there is enough rain. I came to discover one thing; it is the East African Revival that swept Uganda and some parts of East Africa," Mama Rachel said.

Last month, she initiated plans to organise a prayer committee for Kenyan police officers set for deployment to Haiti, arguing that spiritual intervention is essential in ensuring their safety.

Mind you, all the powerful nations who spend billions of dollars on military power have refused to put boots on the ground because of how dangerous the situation is but here comes the Kenyan police armed with prayers to face a militia that has vowed to kill every officer we send them.

"I have been held up in a meeting with some clergy friends of mine for two days discussing the issues of Haiti because we felt as the national alter that we cannot allow our police to go to Haiti without prayer. So they have been strategising on a spiritual solution for our police and people of Haiti," she said then.

"We had pastors from Haiti and America and we are seeing how these three countries can come together to pray because we believe that with prayer everything is possible."

In 2022, Mama Rachel claimed that she took it to prayer when they were troubled by dirty borehole water at their Karen Residency. She added that the borehole water remained relentless even after President William Ruto splurged money to buy purification machines.

God soon turned dirty water clean after she decreed the words of Elisha from the Bible.   

“You know what I did? I went to the kitchen, took a bowl, put salt, and went to the borehole and I decreed the words of Elisha. I went and said ‘this water will never be dirty again!’ And I sprayed the water around the borehole. On Friday I went to the residence and noticed the water was looking different…,” Rachel narrated the miraculous incident.

When drought struck the country last year, Mama Rachel assured farmers that the rains were coming after she prayed about it.

She claimed that the scattered clouds were a herald from God that the drought season was over, calling on farmers to prepare their lands.

“We know that the counties have been affected very much because of this drought, especially the ASAL areas... today we have prayed, we can see the clouds have formed, and we know the rains are coming. Just like the clergy has said, go and prepare your farms because the rains are coming,” she said.

She remained resolute in her remarks even after the weatherman forecasted that the country would remain hot and dry for some time.

In 2022, Mama Rachel announced that prayer services would be held at the State House month after month to show gratitude to God for answered prayers.

“The Bible says ‘People will go up to Jerusalem, year after year, to celebrate the feast of the tabernacles’, and I think that this is a place where people will come year after year for a thanksgiving. I want to tell the church that this is not the last service we are having, you will be coming here month after month to give thanks to the Lord for doing us good,” she said then. 

“When the Lord answers your prayer, you go to give thanks, and we will not do it just once; we will keep coming to this altar that the fathers have laid here today in the State House,” added the First Lady.