Clerics tell Ruto, Azimio leader to embrace talks

Catholic bishops yesterday sent a terse message to President William Ruto and Azimio One leader Raila Odinga: Stop the hostilities and negotiate.

The bishops, through the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) warned the two political protagonists to drop their hardline positions and talk to each other, saying demonstrations will not bring down the cost of living.

They were responding to the declaration by Raila that he will lead two demonstrations every week — on Mondays and Thursdays — and President Ruto’s warning that his administration will not allow breaches of the law.

In a race to stop the standoff from escalating, the bishops have now raised their voice of reason, urging the two to meet and iron out their differences. “We come here today to plead and ask our President, William Ruto to follow through with his promise to sit with and listen to Hon Raila Odinga and other leaders and come out with some reasonable proposals to address the main plights, specifically high cost of living that needs urgent attention,” the bishops said in their message to the President.

To Raila, they said; “We also invite Hon Raila to accept dialogue for the good of the country. We believe that a sitting and dialogue can resolve this dangerous standoff.” The bishops spoke as a group of Muslim MPs allied to the ruling Kenya Kwanza Alliance asked Raila to halt the demonstrations planned for Monday and Thursday next week to pave way for the holy month of Ramadhan scheduled to start today.

Addressing a news conference yesterday, the MPs led by Mohammed Ali (Nyali) and Falhada Dekow (East African Legislative Assembly) asked the Azimio leader to give Muslims time to observe the holy month without hindrances or chaos.

In particular, they asked demonstrators to stay away from areas populated by Muslims to avoid destruction of property, a scenario they said was witnessed during Monday’s demonstrations.

Meanwhile, the Catholic bishops led by the KCCB chairperson, Archbishop Martin Kivuva, warned that demonstrations would not resolve the grievances that Azimio has raised.

“The fact that it is legal to demonstrate should not make it a vehicle to paralyse the country nor degenerate to a forceful take over of a legitimate government,” said Archbishop Kivuva, who was accompanied by over 20 bishops in a press conference held in Nairobi. “We must allow ourselves to be guided by the law and not our own individual perspectives… We should not entertain any goal that seeks to use violence or force to take leadership.”

The clerics urged Raila to accept dialogue for the good of the country saying this would resolve the current standoff.

High cost of living

Raila has issued several demands that he wants the Ruto administration to address; opening the elections results servers for the August 2022 presidential race, allow a forensic audit of the same to determine who won the election, reinstatement of the three electoral commissioners who resigned and the one who was sacked and stoppage of the process to hire new commissioners. He also wants the government to take tangible steps that will reduce the cost of living and ease pressure on Kenyans to pay taxes which he has described as punitive. Raila has also challenged the legitimacy of the Ruto administration, saying the President must resign.

Yesterday, clerics had this to say in response to the issues raised: “We the Catholic Bishops declare our intention and willingness to rejoin with the leaders and other Kenyans of goodwill to have a national conversation over the issues that are ailing us.”

They said Kenyans should not entertain any goal that seeks to use violence or force to take leadership, regretting that the country had witnessed looting and destruction of property that led to huge business losses during Monday’s demonstrations in Nairobi, Kisumu, Maseno and Migori.

Archbishop Kivuva also called for respect for the rule of law, saying demands that the President must resign and be replaced by Raila through acclamation was dangerous and goes against the fact that Kenya is a country governed by the Constitution. “We went to vote and the results were contested in court. Our Supreme Court made its determination. Therefore, we have a constitutionally legitimate government. Any contestation can only be challenged in the courts,” the clerics said.

“Demonstrations cannot annul or take over the Constitution. We must respect the rule of law. The only way to avoid chaos and anarchy is always to follow the Constitution and the laws of the land.”

The bishops said they understand the extent of the frustrations of Kenyans because of the hard economic times.

“There cannot be a good reason to resort to the stand-off and defiance of our leaders to the detriment of Kenyans. The chest thumping from those in government that they will not dialogue with the opposition will not solve concerns and problems Kenyans are saddled with. The country is at a place where blame games by our leaders cannot address the country’s myriad problems and crises.”

Unless President Ruto and Raila close ranks, Raila’s allies are set to return to the streets on Monday and Thursday to push their agenda. Yesterday, former governor Wycliffe Oparanya notified the police that the protests will be held in all 47 counties. Another former governor, Mike Sonko, has gone to court seeking to stop the demonstrations.

Pray for forgiveness

And yesterday, Muslim legislators led by Nyali MP Mohamed Ali asked Azimio to put the protests on hold for a month. During the press conference, the Muslim MPs took issue with the demonstrations, saying they were uncalled for because innocent people were attacked and their businesses destroyed.

At least one person was killed in the skirmishes between protesters and police while over 200 others were arrested. At least 38 police officers also wounded, according to the Inspector-General of Police.

“Raila should know that we have started the holy month of Ramadhan and, therefore, should please avoid the areas where Muslims faithfuls are populated. We are asking Raila to take advantage of the holy month of Ramadhan to pray for forgiveness. He has been protesting for so long.”