KENYA: Catholic Bishops Against Appointment of Recycled Politicians, Strongly Condemns Corruption
Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) in a statement issued on Friday, May 10, said, it is unfortunate that the Government of Kenya continue appointing recycled leaders who lack vision to inspire Kenyans for a better future.
According to Bishops, the trend of recycling the old people to lead the public service shows that the talk about giving the youth an opportunity is all politics.
On corruption, the Bishops’ statement appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to demonstrate Government’s determination to eradicate corruption, especially now that he is in his second term.
In his first term, Kenyan President Uhuru acknowledged that corruption existed everywhere and particularly in the Office of the President. Corruption and corrupt people have become immune to all measures and continue to slide the country into a bottomless abyss of hopelessness, poverty and despair.
Efforts to fight corruption in Kenya don’t seem to bear any fruit and politics seems to be hijacking the discussions, finding its way into any meaningful attempt to address the evil.
To fight corruption, the bishops promised to move from talk to action in a three-point plan including rejecting corrupt practices and teaching faithful to do so; pushing for rejection of bribes by ordinary Kenyans; and signing petitions to fight corruption.
“We are caught up in perennial political bickering, manoeuvers and utterances that slow our country from moving forward in a fresh direction that will bring meaningful development and national integration,” they said.
The bishops also decried the trend of youth committing suicide and engaging murders, saying that something has gone wrong in the society and acknowledging the fact that Kenyans must face the reality of the despair; that young people are increasingly descending into depression out of frustration either due to unemployment or due to poor guidance from families, friends and community.
The bishops have also termed the clamour by MPs to increase their perks as insensitive to Kenyans who are already overburdened with taxes. They also raised concern over the ballooning national debt saying most of the funds are going into people’s pockets.
President Uhuru himself has said in the past that he knows that his stance against corruption will cost him many friends, but that he was willing to pay that price.
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By Rev. Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ, Archdiocese of Kisumu
