End tension, clerics tell coalition principals

Religious leaders on Thursday appealed to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to promote reconciliation and end political tension in Kenya.

The umbrella protestant church organisation, National Council of Churches of Kenya, and the Catholic Church said the two leaders should start by asking their supporters to call off the parallel rallies planned to drum up support.

According to the clerics, the two principals should immediately hold talks to discuss and agree on a working formula to avert possible collapse of the coalition government.

“Do not allow yourselves to be the source of discord and violence in our country. A first step towards this is ordering your parties to call off the planned political rallies as these will not solve the leadership problems you are having,” stated a statement from the NCCK.

In the event that their advice is not heeded, the group led by NCCK secretary general Peter Karanja had a message for Kenyans: “Very soon, political rallies will be held in your localities. Be very careful when you participate in those rallies, and remember that political rallies do not solve leadership problems. “They actually make the situation worse, as we learned in 2007.”

Speaking separately, the clerics were however critical of the two principals’ leadership style, which the NCCK described as “lacking vision, and reflecting irresponsibility and indiscipline”.

John Cardinal Njue, who spoke at the Holy Family Basilica, told dissatisfied ministers to “leave the government instead of destroying (it)”.

The Pope’s representative to Kenya, Nuncio Alain Lebeaupin, said it was wrong for leaders to continue wrangling while millions of Kenyans suffered from hunger and many others were still displaced from their homes.

The NCCK charged that the current bickering was an indication that political leaders were working hard to destroy Kenya.

Further bloodshed

“The blood of Kenyans who died in the post-election violence is still on your hands and you do not seem to mind leading us on a path of further bloodshed,” warned the religious leaders.

The healing and reconciliation taskforce of NCCK, after their meeting at the Jumuia Conference and Country Home, Limuru, said Kenyans were equal to the challenge of restoring the nation.

The NCCK did not spare its own folk: “As religious leaders, let us stand together in truth and speak with one voice regardless of our regions or communities and thereby lead the nation to healing and reconciliation. Do not allow your altars to be used for political posturing.”

Religious leaders have owned up to the fact that in the run-up to the 2007 General Election and in the 2005 referendum, they were divided and failed to provide leadership.

NCCK also reiterated its calls for new elections at the earliest possible moment. But speaking at the Kenya Institute of Education, the chairman of the Evangelical Association of Kenya predicted the collapse of the Grand Coalition Government.

However, Bishop Boniface Adoyo said the call for fresh elections may be untenable as there was no Electoral Commission in place.

Reported by Samwel Kumba, Benjamin Muindi and Francis Mureithi