Religious leaders drawn from the Nyanza region on Monday, November 18, threatened to mobilise Kenyans for civil disobedience over alleged oppression and mismanagement by President William Ruto's administration.
The leaders pointed out that the country is headed in the wrong direction and called for the President to institute a raft of measures to address problems facing Kenyans, failure to which they will mobilise their supporters in civil unrest.
"The nation has witnessed the worst cases of oppression in recent times, some orchestrated through commercialization of political leadership with the opposition voices virtually eclipsed in Nyanza region after the creation of the broad-based government," read their statement in part.
The church leaders from the Nyanza region joined the rest of the religious leaders including the Catholic Bishops to call out the government.
The clergy from Nyanza issued eight irreducible demands all of which were aimed to improve the livelihoods of Kenyans. Most of all the demands were raised by the Catholic bishops.
It comes barely four days after the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) issued a statement on criticising Ruto’s administration over allegations of rampant corruption, over-taxation, and unkept promises.
It comes as different sections of religious leaders have taken a stand either in support or against the government. On Sunday, the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) bishops called out their Catholic counterparts for publicly criticising the Kenya Kwanza Government on Thursday terming it as disrespectful.
They noted there were other means to articulate their grievances respectfully other than publicly attacking President Ruto.
The Anglican Church, however, issued another statement on November 18, saying it fully supports the statement issued by Catholic bishops.
The bishops had called out the government for failing to repay the debt owed by the defunct National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to faith-based organizations running medical facilities.
Additionally, they also took issue with the government’s decision to increase the missionary work permit in the country which they lamented would curtail their activities.
They also questioned delays in reconstituting the Independence Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) despite several calls by different stakeholders.
In the press briefing, the bishops expressed concerns over the bill to increase the term limit of elected leaders from five years to seven years, claiming there were schemes to hasten the bill through Parliament for approval.
To resolve the menace, they advised Ruto's administration to put into good use the collected revenue and put in place austerity measures to avoid over-expenditure.
Muslim leaders from the North Rift on Monday defended the bishops against attacks by political leaders following their recent remarks on the government’s performance.
“It is good for the government to listen to advice from the religious leaders. It’s not only the Catholics’ bishops’ duty to call out the government, every religious leader has an obligation to speak out when things aren’t going well,” one of their representatives said.
Elsewhere, the Atheists in Kenya on Monday supported the Catholic church in calling out the government. They stated that the culture of lies was slowly replacing integrity.
