Places of worship in deserts without a drop to drink

The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, was built between 1985 and 1989 at a cost of $300 million. Yamoussoukro village is where former President of Ivory Felix Houphouet Boigny was born.

He even made the village the Capital City during his reign. His vision was to build the largest church, and indeed Guinness World Records did designate it as the largest on Earth, dwarfing even St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

The construction of the church went ahead, despite Ivory Coast experiencing serious economic challenges at the time. The living standard in the village itself where the church was built was dire. Pope John Paul II was hesitant to consecrate the church and only did so on condition that other social amenities were built alongside the church. It was built to seat thousands of Catholic faithful, but given the small population of Yamoussoukro, only a small section of the church can, in fact, be utilised.

The Basilica in Yamoussoukro was President Houphouet Bogny’s prized items among many other monuments built in his name. If ever there was a vanity project built on earth, Yamoussoukro church it is. The sheer size of the church and its ornate features contrast with the other humble dwellings of the local population. Like a sore thumb, it stands metres high in the sky and spreads out as far as the eyes can see.

Politics and power

Nothing symbolises the relationship between politics and power like Yamoussoukro church, as it tends to be referred to informally. Politics and power have always been intertwined, as seen during General Francisco Franco’s reign in Spain in the 1930s when he relied on the Roman Catholic Church to advance his dictatorial spirit, leading to the deaths of many Spaniards who were against his rule. The Catholic Church became the national religion. It was not until the 1960s under the guidance of the Vatican Council that religious freedoms and separation of church and state was introduced.

Like Yamoussoukro church, the rise in construction of mosques in the least expected places in Kenya is food for thought. The recent opening of Masjid Nur in North Horr, a place that sits bang in the middle of the Chalbi Desert, got Kenyans wondering whether the neediest item for the people of the area was a mosque or water. There is “having water shortage”, and there is “lacking water”. North Horr sits in the latter category. People who live in least developed areas such as North Horr obviously need more than just water.

Hospitals, schools and reliable electricity come to mind. However, water being the catalyst for development, one is forgiven for questioning the priorities in poor areas in terms of projects.

The other mosque that is coming up on public land is in Treasury Square in Mombasa. A serene quarter that has always offered recreational space for the residents of Mombasa. The city is awash with mosques. There is one in just about every mile in a city that also has one of the oldest mosques in the Old Town, built in 1570. Mandhry mosque was built during the occupation of the city by Omani Arabs and still stands.

Water harvesting infrastructure

The new Treasury Square Mosque in Mombasa, having been spearheaded by politicians and its approval fast-tracked, is also coming up amidst a city that is struggling to get fresh water for its residents. Mombasa continues to experience serious water shortage, despite yearly monsoon rains. There is still neither reliable water harvesting infrastructure nor a sewage system to speak of. Despite such challenges, buildings, including new mosques, continue to be approved by the county. Planning of the city, like many areas of Kenya, has also gone rogue. Use of public land to build privately funded and privately owned buildings should not be happening, but it is going on unabatedly.

One thread that is cutting through the rise in construction is the political angle. It appears Muslim politicians are tripping over themselves to build mosques in their names. Cabinet Secretary Hassan Ali Joho built one in his mother’s memory not far from the others already dotting the island. The state of Umm-Kulthum Mosque land is in dispute, just like the Treasury Square one. From anecdotal evidence, the construction of these new mosques has little to do with helping the growth of Islam but vanity projects to appease oneself among the Muslim congregants, who, just like all other Kenyans, need essential services more than more mosques.

The other question that the rise in construction of mosques is throwing up is the issue of the large sums of money politicians use to build mosques. Salaries for politicians may be higher than most, but to have spare millions to build mosques only gives rise to the issue of money laundering. Having said that, manna does come from heaven; who knows how the mosques are funded? Nonetheless, in the absence of drinking water in a land full of new mosques, the mind does boggle.

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