Of Religious Dancing and Njonjo's Old School Menatlity

Former Attorney General, Mr Charles Njonjo, and the head of Anglican Church, Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi have clashed over reforms in the Church. The rift stemmed from an assertion by Nzimbi that the Anglican Church was changing its worship style by allowing youth to sing and dance during sermons to encourage them. Njonjo, who presided over a funds drive in aid of the Church disagreed with Nzimbi, saying Anglican worshiping traditions should not be discarded. "If youth want to dance, they can go to other churches where the practice is allowed," said Njonjo. Addressing faithful at St Michael ACK Church in Bondo at the weekend, Nzimbi said, "we have allowed youth to dance and sing in the Church because if we don’t they will run away." "I want to urge them to dance with dignity before the congregation," he added. However, Njonjo vowed to oppose the new ways of worshipping being introduced by a section of the clergy. Njonjo said the Anglican Church should stick to its traditional mode of worship and guard against being swayed by the emerging churches. He also told Nzimbi to be firm and defend the Anglican traditional style of worship from being watered down by an emerging generation. He said it was disturbing to see some of the ACK Church leaders giving in to some form of worship that traditionally are associated with Pentecostal or other emerging churches. Njonjo was accompanied by ODM leaders Mr Joseph Nyagah, Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o, Dr Oburu Odinga, Archbishop Stephen Ondiek, Mr Ken Nyagudi, and Mr Sammy Weya. - The Standard.

For Sale: Belgium, A Kindom in 3 Parts

Hidden among the porcelain fox hounds and Burberry tablecloths on sale at eBay.be this week was an unusual item: 'For Sale: Belgium, a Kingdom in three parts ... free premium: the king and his court (costs not included).' The ad - thought to be the first attempt to sell Belgium via eBay - was posted by one disgruntled Belgian in protest at his country's political crisis. This reached its 100-day landmark on Tuesday, with no end in sight to the squabbling between Flemish and Walloon politicians. 'I wanted to attract attention,' said Gerrit Six, the teacher and former journalist who posted the ad. 'You almost have to throw a rock through a window to get attention for Belgium.' Six placed the advertisement on Saturday, offering free delivery, but pointing out that the country was coming secondhand and that potential buyers would have to take on over £153 billion (€220 billion) in national debt. Like many of Belgium's 10 million citizens, Six is exasperated that the power struggle between the country's French-speaking and Dutch-speaking political parties has left Belgium in political limbo since June 10 elections.

Demands for more autonomy from the Dutch-speaking Flemish are resisted by the French-speaking Walloons, making it impossible to form a government coalition and triggering concern the kingdom is on the verge of a breakup. Six decided to vent his frustration through the Internet ad. 'My proposal was to make it clear that Belgium was valuable, it's a masterpiece and we have to keep it,' he told Associated Press Television News. 'It's my country and I'm taking care of it, and with me are millions of Belgians.' Six' idea got a mixed reaction on the streets of Brussels. 'Very funny, typical Belgian humor,' said Anne Graux. 'It's ridiculous,' snapped Nathalie Ginot, a Brussels resident who had her own pragmatic solution to Belgium's woes. 'We think it would be good to split Belgium into the three and make Brussels a tax-haven, a capital exempt from all taxes,' she said hopefully. Six vaunted Belgium's attractions to potential buyers from art nouveau architecture to the headquarters of NATO and the European Union and some great beers. But he also warned of the pitfalls of taking on the cacophonous mix of Flemish nationalists, Walloon Socialists and the mayors of all 19 Brussels' boroughs. EBay was happy to take Six' advertisement. 'It was a really fun listing made by a Belgian,' Peter Burin, PR manager of eBay Belgium. 'This person, in a very funny way, reminded the Belgians what a great country Belgium actually is and it would be a shame to sell it.' However, the company decided to pull the ad Tuesday after receiving a bid of €10 million (£6.9 million) 'We decided to take it down, just to avoid confusion,' he told APTN.