MY FASCINATION with prayers in Standing Orders was piqued as I was re-reading the prayers that are in the Standing Orders of both the National Assembly and the Senate. I noticed some slight differences in the prayers of both House. I will point them out shortly. I then asked myself whether other Parliaments have a text of a prayer in their Standing Orders or Rules of Procedure. So far I have not made much headway. I am still looking around.
National Assembly
The following is the prayer you will find in the National Assembly of Kenya’s Standing Orders. First, the English version:
PRAYER
Almighty God, who in Your wisdom and goodness have appointed the offices of Leaders and Parliaments for the welfare of society and the just government of the people, we beseech You to behold with Your abundant favour, us Your servants, whom You have been pleased to call to the performance of important trusts in this Republic.
Let Your blessings descend upon us here assembled, and grant that we treat and consider all matters that shall come under our deliberation in so just and faithful a manner as to promote Your Honour and Glory, and to advance the peace, prosperity and welfare of our Country and of those whose interests You have committed to our charge.
AMEN
And the Kiswahili translation:
OMBI
Ewe Mwenyezi Mungu, ambaye kwa hekima na wema wako umeteua nyadhifa za viongozi na mabunge kwa ustawi wa jamii na utawala wa haki wa wanadamu: twakusihi ututazame kwa neema nyingi sisi watumishi wako, ambao umeridhika kutuita ili tutekeleze shughuli muhimu za Jamhuri hii yetu.
Twakuomba ututeremshie baraka zako sisi tuliokutanika hapa, na utujalie tuyatende na kufikiria mambo yote yatakayofikishwa mbele yetu kwa njia ya haki na uaminifu ili utukufu na sifa zako ziendelezwe, na ili kustawisha amani, ufanisi na heri ya nchi hii yetu na wale ambao haja zao umezikabidhi mikononi mwetu.
AMINA
Senate
The Senate has a slightly different text of their prayer:
First, the English version:
PRAYERAlmighty God, we beseech you to behold with Your abundant favour and blessings, us Your servants whom you have been pleased to call to leadership positions in this Republic. We seek guidance to treat and consider all matters that shall come under our deliberation in so just and faithful a manner, as to advance the peace, prosperity and welfare of our country and of those whose interests You have committed to our charge.AMEN
You will notice that Senate’s prayer is leaner. For instance, it struck off the words “who in Your wisdom and goodness have appointed the offices of Leaders and Parliaments for the welfare of society and the just government of the people” and “performance of important trusts in this Republic” and “let your blessings descend upon us here assembled”.
The Kiswahili translation is as follows:
OMBIEwe Mwenyezi Mungu, twakusihi ututazame kwa neema nyingi na baraka sisi watumishi wako ambao umeridhika kutuita kwa nyadhifa za uongozi katika Jamhuri hii yetu.Twakuomba utujalie tuyatende na kufikiria mambo yote yatakayofikishwa mbele yetu kwa njia ya haki na uaminifu ili kustawisha amani, ufanisi na heri ya nchi hii yetu na wale ambao haja zao umezikabidhi mikononi mwetu.
AMIN
A quick note on the Kiswahili translation
Ewe Mwenyezi Mungu, ambaye kwa hekima na wema wako umeteua nyadhifa za viongozi na mabunge kwa ustawi wa jamii na utawala wa haki wa wanadamu: twakusihi ututazame kwa neema nyingi sisi watumishi wako, ambao umeridhika kutuita ili tutekeleze shughuli muhimu za Jamhuri hii yetu.
Twakuomba ututeremshie baraka zako sisi tuliokutanika hapa, na utujalie tuyatende na kufikiria mambo yote yatakayofikishwa mbele yetu kwa njia ya haki na uaminifu ili utukufu na sifa zako ziendelezwe, na ili kustawisha amani, ufanisi na heri ya nchi hii yetu na wale ambao haja zao umezikabidhi mikononi mwetu.
…to the performance of important trusts in this Republic– ili tutekeleze shughuli muhimu za Jamhuri yetu
Comment: Trust has been equated to shughuli. I have a problem with that. Trust in Kiswahili is amana and shughuli is something else. In kiswahili, when I say weka amana, it means “kitu anachopewa mtu kukihifadhi na kukirejesha kwa mwenyewe atakapokitaka au kukipeleka kwa mwingine anayehusika” which is the sense that the English version is trying to communicate. So, my proposal is that the translation should read “ili tutekeleze amana muhimu za Jamhuri yetu”.
...to promote Your Honour and Glory- ili utukufu na sifa zako ziendelezwe
Comment: It is my humble observation that the Kiswahili translation of honour is not utukufu but heshima. Also, the sense of glory used leads me to think that the Kiswahili translation should be utukufu and not sifa but I invite your comments. There is a way that the translation has been made passive and I propose that it reads ili kuendeleza Heshima na Utukufu wako.
…welfare – heri
Comment: The earlier translations in the prayer have accurately translated welfare as ustawi but the last translation missed it. The word heri has a different sense altogether and even if it is, it is internally inconsistent with the previous use of the translated word ustawi.
…interests- haja
Comment: My humble proposal is that the English equivalent of haja is need. My humble observation is that the Kiswahili translation of interests as used in the prayer should be maslahi.
Can the National Assembly prayer be improved?
Having read the prayer closely, my initial thought as a drafter is that we find the full stop after 56 words. We crush breathless in the second paragraph after plodding a whole 59 words before finding a full stop. My English teachers would say that that is a long sentence and should be trimmed by half and if we get it to 17 words, the better.
I have looked at the words “we beseech You to behold with Your abundant favour” and the plain English man in me is fidgeting. The word beseech does not sound more natural to me than pray. In fact, I would go with pray. I also have trouble with the words “in so just and faithful a manner”. Why not just say justly and faithfully?
And of course there is “treat and consider” and my legislative drafting lecturer in Kenya School of Law called this couplets and discouraged its use. One may just say treat, or consider, but not both.
The words “have appointed the offices of Leaders and Parliaments”- what do they mean? Would this be faulted as incorrectly saying that offices can be appointed instead of persons to those offices?
How about if the prayer is amended first by making the sentences shorter and addressing some of the concerns above? The redraft below attempts to do this. Of course it is not yet perfect but I would be happy to hear your thoughts. Should we knock off good in the wise and good (is it a couplet?)
Redrafted prayer
Almighty God, you were wise and good to have appointed us to leadership positions for the welfare of society and the just government of the people. You have been pleased to call us, your servants, to the performance of important trusts in this Republic. We pray that you grant us your favour.
Let Your blessings descend upon us here assembled. Grant that we consider all matters under our deliberation justly and faithfully so as to promote Your Honour and Glory, and to advance the peace, prosperity and welfare of our Country and of those whose interests You have committed to our charge.
If you have texts of prayers from other Parliaments, please email them to dicksalemlorot@gmail.com. So far, I have not been successful.
You can listen to the audio recording of this post below:
Image credit: Desiring God
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ayes & nays
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