The President of Kenya hoped the east and the Horn of Africa would be free of rain for the sixth time in a row, and the President of Kenya hopes the skies will finally open with a nationwide day of mass prayer yesterday, Tuesday.

William Ruto announced plans for the first day of prayer in the country on Sunday at a service in the drought-stricken city of Nakuru, about 100 miles from the capital, Nairobi. The decision follows a joint call by the country’s spiritual leaders to spend the entire day praying for an end to the country’s drought.

Ruto’s ambitious economic recovery strategy also depends on a successful rainy season.

“As a government, we have elaborate plans for food security, we have seeds, abundant fertilizers and water harvesting strategies, including dams. Now we need God to send us rain,” Ruto said. “I call on all people of all faiths to pray for our country.”

Kenya and other countries in East Africa are experiencing some of the worst droughts in decades, resulting in significant crop damage, loss of livestock, wildlife and biodiversity, and malnutrition. Domestic agriculture makes up a large part of Kenya’s economy.

The United Nations humanitarian agency has described the ongoing drought in the region as a “fast-moving humanitarian catastrophe.”

Meteorologists say man-made climate change has exacerbated extreme conditions.

“The time has come to include climate change in our development plans,” Evans Mukolue, former director of the Kenya Meteorological Service and the United Nations, told The Associated Press. “The current drought, which we warned about several years ago, has broader implications for socio-economic conditions in the region, including peace, security and political stability.”

Mucolue added that climate change has contributed to below-average rainfall in the region for about three decades.

The climate agency of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development said five rainy seasons have gone awry since 2020, affecting more than 50 million people. The agency will publish its forecast for a long rainy season, usually from March to May, in the coming days. Early forecasts by other meteorological groups are not optimistic.

All over the world, people of different religions often asked for divine intervention for rain or other favorable weather. Last summer, the archbishop of Milan made a pilgrimage to three churches in hopes of ending the country’s drought, and the Utah governor urged citizens to pray for rain ahead of a scorching weekend.

Some Kenyans are determined to heed the president’s call.

Source: Associated Press.