Kenya: Religious leaders rebuke government

  1. Posted on Friday 20 February 2009 - 12:16
    Adhiambo Ogwell
    Image of Adhiambo Ogwell
    Linda Ogwell, AfricaNews reporter in Kampala, Uganda
    Religious leaders in Kenya have rebuked President Kibaki and PM Odinga for failing Kenyans. "When you signed the National Accord, Kenyans expected the best leadership but now they are discouraged, ashamed, disillusioned and angry" said Bishop Boniface Adoyo of Evangelical Alliance of Kenya.
    kibaki
    The clerics further accused the government of reluctance to punish their corrupt and greedy friends. They made the statement, when they shared a platform during a fundraising and prayer session for survivors of two fire tragedies that rocked Kenya in which more than 160 people were burnt to death.

    “You have been reluctant to punish your greedy friends, neglected the internally displaced and have not acted on insecurity and extra judicial killings,” the statement read.

    The religious leaders urged the government to restore justice, equality, unity and dignity to all Kenyans.

    But in a rejoinder, President Kibaki told the clerics not to engage in blame games telling them they had chosen a wrong forum for criticism and further more they were part of the problems facing Kenya today. “It is not that you are holy and not guilty at all” said Kibaki.

    Many have accused the religious leaders of taking sides during the post-election violence that rocked the country in 2007. During former president Daniel Arap Moi’s reign in the 1990s, clergymen were the most outspoken and critical of the government.

    In the recent months the Kenyan Coalition government has seen its cabinet members linked to corruption cases involving huge amounts of money and mishandling of maize stocks while over 10 million people are threatened with hunger.

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