You've failed Kenya, Kibaki and Raila told

“You have been reluctant to punish your friends who are greedy; you have neglected the internally displaced persons; you have not acted decisively on insecurity and extra-judicial killings,” the groups told President Kibaki and Mr Odinga.

Kenyans had hoped, they said, the two “would unite the diverse ethnic communities into one united nation of Kenya; that they would punish those who break the law even if they are your friends; that you would turn your faces from corruption and greed; that you would resettle the internally displaced persons back to their homes; that you would facilitate the creation of jobs for the unemployed especially the youth.”

Kenyans, they added, were witnessing disagreements within the Grand Coalition instead of cohesion and that there have been little or no effort towards healing and reconciliation.

In a show of their anger to President Kibaki and Mr Odinga, the religious leaders said Kenyans were disillusioned with their leadership and that they should now take responsibility for the status of the nation.

“We urge you to take charge and restore the dignity and unity, equity and justice for all the people of Kenya. We pray that God will help you to lead Kenya to overcome the challenges facing our nation with courage and devotion,” they added.

Unlike Mr Odinga, who in his two-minute speech only said the blame game would always be there when the country was in a crisis, President Kibaki chose to hit back at the religious leaders saying they were part of the problems facing Kenya. “Stop looking for someone to blame,” he told them. “It’s not that you are holy and you are not guilty at all.”

The Grand Coalition Government has been on the spot over the controversial sale of Grand Regency (now Laico Regency) Hotel, the vanishing of millions of litres of fuel from a Nairobi depot and the mishandling of maize stocks.

Paying taxes

Religious leaders accused political leaders of dividing Kenyans on tribal lines, leading them to conflict and bribing, intimidating, manipulating and forcing their followers into submission and servitude.

MPs were accused of increasing their salaries and allowances and refusing to pay taxes. Although the religious leaders applauded the “great work done” by the media in exposing corruption scandals, they criticised them for “oppressing their staff” and “employing non-professionals who have no sense of ethics.”

The event raised more than Sh80 million for victims of the Nakumatt and Molo fire tragedies in one of the biggest fundraisers in Kenya’s recent history.

Public institutions donated a huge portion of the Sh80,771,101.25. The organising committee had hoped to raise at least Sh150 million but chairman Naushad Merali described the result as excellent and appealed to the private sector to help meet the target.