Pentecostal churches have waded into the standoff pitting the Church and the ruling Kenya Kwanza regime urging the government to fulfill promises made during the 2022 elections campaigns.
Led by Federation of Evangelical and Indigenous Christian Churches of Kenya General Secretary Bishop David Thagana, the bishops, reverends, pastors and evangelists expressed support for the Catholic Bishop who urged the government to address challenges facing Kenyans.
The noted with concerns that Kenyans are still suffering from a myriad of challenges that require urgent attention by the State.
“We want to register our support of our brothers, the bishops of the Catholic church. We are the same church; we serve the same God and the same Kenyans,” Thagana said.
“We urge leaders to be connected to their electorates and agree to hear the legitimate voices from the ground. Be sensitive to the issues concerning Kenyans.”
The Bishops said that the Government must accept positive criticism from Kenyans and ensure that the cases of abductions that have been on the rise are brought to an end.
The group spoke during the ordination of Bishop James Sasung.
They at the same time took issues with politicians who have been on record profiling some men of the cloth’ as tribalists saying the trend should not be condoned as it will birth ill will between the church and the political class.
The group observed that the high cost of living, and confusion in the healthcare transition among other challenges facing Kenyans are some of the matters that should be addressed with immediacy.
“Let there be an opportunity where the government can listen to the voice of the church. We cannot speak to each other when we are expected to serve the same people. We will not lie to you. There is a huge gap between you and the people who elected you. You may not heed to their cries but we are with them every time and we know their wishes,” Bishop Thagana said.
He added;
“Where we are now, the solution is to have a dialogue between the church and the government so that you listen to their voices. Why profile us as tribalists only when we lay the truth bare to you. The voices made by the catholic bishops are what the ground looks like and their statement painted the clearest picture of what is happening across the country.”
They called on the political class in the country to respect the church and uphold high levels of integrity.
Bishop Paul Ogutu of Glory Outreach Assembly from the Nyanza region called on the government to address issues that Kenyans have continued to raise including clearing the air on the healthcare transitions, dealing with university lecturers’ strike and working on the high cost of living.
They also
urged the government to reconstitute the Independent Electoral and Boundaries
Commission (IEBC) saying that in the current circumstance, Kenyans are denied a
constitutional right to recall leaders they have no trust with.
“Get rid of the confusion in the SHA transition, reconstitute IEBC and lower the cost of living. Currently, most Kenyans have no trust in most leaders and are now recalling them but there is no constitutional body mandated to spearhead the process,” said Ogutu.
“We ask the government to accept the reality, avoid fighting back and instead seek to resolve the issues raised by the bishops. Also resolve the university strike as students continue to express concerns on how they will sit exams without having gone through the lectures. Competition will only worsen the situation,” added Ogutu.
