On Friday 14th of February, Kenyans marched to the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi to hold the first national prayer day as a result of the failed rainy seasons in the country.

Kenya had experienced six consecutive failed rainy seasons which had led to an extreme drought in the country. The president hopes the heavens will open and rain after a national prayer day. President William Ruto announced at a service last Sunday that the prayer will be held in the city of Nakuru, which is a hundred miles away from the capital, Nairobi.

“As a government, we have set out elaborate plans for food security, we have seeds, ample fertiliser, and water harvesting strategies including dams. We now need God to send us the rain,” Mr Ruto said. “I urge all people from all faiths … to pray for our country.” For decades, Kenya and other African nations in the East have been experiencing decades of drought leading to a failed crop production, feeding problems, loss of livestock, amidst many others, knowing that domestic Agriculture is an integral part of Kenya’s economy.

A UN statistic pointed out that 22 million people are acutely food insecure and 5.1 million children are acutely malnourished in areas like Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia as a result of drought.  Millan’s archbishop made a Pilgrimage to three countries the previous summer to hold a prayer day for rain.

Last summer, Milan’s archbishop made a pilgrimage to three churches in hopes of ending Italy’s dry spell and the governor of the U.S state of Utah called for citizens to pray for rain ahead of a weekend of extreme heat.

 .