By PETER LEFTIE pmutibo@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, April 28 2012 at 21:12
Posted Saturday, April 28 2012 at 21:12
The umbrella churches body has defended the participation of church leaders in recent Gema and Kamatusa meetings.
In a statement, the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) said there was nothing wrong with church leaders attending community meetings to help build bridges and end the cycle of violence in the country.
The statement comes in the wake of stinging criticism directed at leading church leaders who attended the Gema and Kamatusa meetings last month.
The Gema meeting, which endorsed deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential bid and vowed to collect two million signatures to petition the International Criminal Court (ICC) to postpone the cases facing the Ocampo 4 was attended by bishop emeritus of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Peter Njenga and his Methodist church counterpart Bishop Lawi Imathiu. (DOWNLOAD: Gema resolutions)
Eldoret Catholic Bishop Cornelius Korir also attended the Kamatusa meeting that also endorsed Eldoret North MP William Ruto’s presidential bid and resolved to mobilise the Kalenjin, Maasai, Turkana and Samburu communities to petition the ICC to postpone the cases.
The NCCK, through its General Secretary Peter Karanja, maintained that church leaders were free to offer guidance to their communities to promote peace.
“We do not have a problem with church leaders participating in the discussions going on in their backyards,” said Canon Karanja.
“Christians including church leaders are charged by the Bible to be the light and salt of the world and as they attend these meetings they must be guided by this principle.
“We consider their presence there as an opportunity to ensure that what is discussed in these forums reflect the tenets of peace, love for each other and unity of our nation,” he added.
He advised church leaders who attend such meetings to be at the forefront in encouraging their communities to engage with other communities towards peace, reconciliation and national unity.
NCCK’s position differs sharply with the stand taken by the Anglican and Catholic churches which condemned the revival of Gema and Kamatusa groupings.
The two churches declared they have banned the use of church pulpits by politicians. Head of the ACK Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, in his Easter message at the All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi, said:
“As a church, we will remain non-partisan, but politicians who want to divide Kenyans on tribal lines should be discouraged at all costs.
“We are aware that some of them may not mean well.” Catholic Archbishop John Cardinal Njue warned Kenyans against joining tribal groupings and asked politicians to allow people to follow whoever they want.
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