KENYA: The Catholic Church is Calling for a National Peace Policy

The Catholic Church is calling for a national peace policy that will advocate for co-existence among all communities.

Bishop Cornelius Korir of Eldoret Diocese told a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) public hearing in Eldoret that tribal politics was to blame for recurrent election-related violence.

The policy, Korir said, should address the needs of all communities to minimize unnecessary conflicts. Children should be taught about peace and co-existence in their formative years, he added.

The cleric also identified poverty as an underlying cause of conflicts, noting that some idle and unemployed youths are normally misused by politicians to engage in violence.

Korir was giving views during a TJRC public hearing presided over by Ambassador Berhanu Dinka, acting chair Tecla Namachanja and commissioners judge Gertrude Chawatama and Maj General (rtd) Ahmed Farah at the Eldoret Municipal Council Hall.

The Bishop said emotions arising from tribalism had led to recurrent violence in cosmopolitan regions in the 1992, 1997 and 2007 elections, leading to loss of lives and property.

He suggested that the church, councils of elders and other institutions needed to be involved in peace building to avoid a recurrence of violence in next years’ General Election.

The Catholic Church has initiated projects including construction of bridges, roads and schools to bring together communities that clashed in parts of the North Rift region, Korir told the commission.