A member of the ACK has distanced the church from remarks made by Rev Canon Sammy Wainaina urging President Uhuru Kenyatta to end the bad blood between him and his deputy William Ruto.
ACK provincial synod member Gordon Nyajong on Tuesday criticised Wainaina saying he should not purport to speak on behalf of the church.
Wainaina on Monday said the split between Uhuru and Ruto was a matter of "general concern to the church".
But Nyajong said there is a leadership structure mandated to speak on the stand of the church over matters of public concern.
“Our church has structures that should be followed. Wainaina did not follow that. Based on his statement it seems he’s privy to something that we don’t know,” Nyajong said in Kisumu.
He said it was the full responsibility of Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit to issue a statement on the position of the church on national matters.
“We regard such remarks as personal opinion. He made his own decision and failed to mediate between the two,” Nyajong said.
The church, Nyajong said, has a responsibility to preach peace and unity through dialogue and Wainaina should have worked closely with Sapit to be mediators between Uhuru and Ruto.
Wainaina said the bad blood between the two leaders has caused anxiety in the county.
He said poor leadership had given politicians the leeway to purport to speak for Uhuru. “We are concerned as a church that the state of the nation is not good at all,” Wainaina, who is the provost of the All Saint’s Cathedral, Nairobi, told the Star on the phone.
He, however, said the letter he on Sunday addressed to Uhuru is not the official position of the ACK. He wrote the piece “after reflecting on the political developments in the country and interaction with people”.
He said the views were his as the provost. "My office is allowed to reflect on such things. So those are my thoughts and were not sanctioned by the church leadership.”
The letter posted on the church’s website noted that the relationship between Uhuru and Ruto is not as close and healthy as was the case in 2013.
He warned that the failing UhuRuto "marriage" has a direct implication on the future generations since “our senior-most leaders are teaching our youths to be disloyal.”
“It is with much reflection on the state of this country that I have found the strength to write to you. Like children in a troubled marriage, Kenyans are worried and apprehensive about your government and your relationship with your deputy,” he said.
Wainaina also said the Building Bridges Initiative “has become a political tool rather than an opportunity to dialogue.”
He raised concerns that there has been no civic education on the BBI, saying politicians with vested interests have hijacked the initiative.
“What Kenyans are looking for is an affordable government that can be held accountable; an imperial president that the current constitution has created is a danger to the nation. We call for an issue-based referendum after a stakeholder’s conference that will come up with the questions,” he said.
edited by peter obuya
