President William Ruto on Sunday, September 25, made a special request to the clergy before officially moving into State House, Nairobi.
Speaking during a thanksgiving service held at the State House Gardens, Ruto, asked the men of cloth to cleanse his official residence before he embarks on using it to discharge his duties.
He revealed that a team of 40 clergymen had been selected to lead the prayer session, which would see them dedicate the entire facility to God.
"After this service, there is a part two which may not be as organized as the first session. We will ask 30 or 40 of our senior clergy to pray over this building and this residence, and the offices so that God can give us solutions for this country.
"Do not leave after lunch, speak award of blessing on this grounds and around this compound, even on the farm, everywhere! Those who can speak in tongues, please do so, so that it is known that the new tenants have arrived," the President stated.
Ruto, who was aware that the decree would deviate from the presidential protocol, assured his guests that he had relayed the same information to the men and women in charge.
The Head of State, who sneaked back to the country after his trip to the United Kingdom and the United States of America, made three special prayer requests to the church leaders present.
In the wake of the banditry attack in Turkana that left eleven dead including eight police officers dead, he asked the clerics to beseech God on his behalf that peace prevailed in the country.
"Pray so that the spirit of conflict and cattle rustling will be defeated. We are doing what we can do as a government to ensure we see the last of this kind of thing," Ruto implored.
He also requested that those charged with maintaining peace within and without the country are remembered in prayer. In addition, the President called on the churchmen to pray that his government enables Kenyans to meet their basic needs.
"I want to request you to pray for put plan; so that for those who are hungry, we can find food for them, those who do not have shelter, we can build houses for them, to those who are sick, we can have a UHC for them," Ruto requested.
Lastly, he sought divine intervention in solving the country's economic crisis, which he reiterated was in a sorry state. He
"I want you to pray for our economy because we are not in a very good place. As we speak today, we are chained to many debts; 65 per cent of our income is used to pay the debt. Things are difficult but we shall succeed," he noted.
The fifth president of the Republic of Kenya maintained that the citizens needed to save more to reduce the dependence on foreign aid.
He stated that he would respect the court ruling on the mandatory National Social Security Fund (NSSF) contributions but will follow the constitutional procedures in making the necessary adjustments to see his plan work out.
