AMECEA: “Promote Unity for Successful, Credible Elections,” AMECEA SG to Justice and Peace Coordinators
CJPC Diocesan Coordinators
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
As Kenya prepares for the General Elections in the coming month of August, the Secretary General (SG) for the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) has asked Justice and Peace Diocesan Coordinators to take lead in promoting unity and commitment among the people for the realization of a fruitful election.
Speaking to over 30 participants from the diocesan Catholic Justice and Peace Department (CJPD) who were attending a training on elections civic education and elections monitoring and observation, Fr. Anthony Makunde reminded the coordinators their role towards the upcoming elections.
“We have a role to play as Justice and Peace coordinators. Foster that spirit of unity and oneness for the realization of a peaceful and credible election,” Fr. Makunde said in his opening address Tuesday, June 28, at JJ McCarthy Centre, adding that, “all these need commitments.”
The Secretary General of AMECEA reminded the coordinators from all the 25 dioceses in Kenya and the Military Ordinariate how people tend to point fingers at politicians when elections are mismanaged, forgetting that each person has a responsibility towards a successful election.
“We can be very good at pointing fingers at politicians when it comes to elections. We can always talk of the need for a peaceful, fair and credible elections expecting politicians to take lead in this realization,” Fr Makunde underscored and continued, “We forget that we are all leaders and each one of us has a role of ensuring elections are conducted well, freely and in a credible manner.”
He appreciated the level of democracy in the East African nation which he discloses “other nations admire” and reminded the participants who were actually Kenyans that “some people sacrificed for the country to be where it is today.”
“The democracy in Kenya that other nations are admiring has undergone a long journey and some people have paid a price for it. As Justice and peace coordinators, you are here to maintain, strengthen and keep alive that spirit and the fruits the country gained after a long battle,” says the SG who has been heading AMECEA secretariat since 2018.
Fr. Makunde narrated that in any democracy in the world elections present “a platform for the expression of a people’s political decisions, and are a sign of legitimacy for the exercise of power.” Additionally democracy provides a privileged opportunity for a healthy and serene public political debate, marked by respect for different opinions and different political groupings.”
Addressing the issue of election observations, the Secretary General said, “Deploying election observers is a way to support a democratic process and to assist conferences (within the AMECEA region) in their objective to hold genuine elections in their countries.”
He encouraged the diocesan coordinators to keep praying for the success of the upcoming August 9th General elections for God’s intervention because any “mismanagement of elections cause destruction of human lives, homes and environment.”
On his side, the AMECEA Coordinator for Promoting Integral Human Development (PIHD) Fr. Paul Mung’athia Igweta reminded the participants that successful elections require good preparations hence the need for the training to prepare coordinators prior to the election day.
“We came up with programs to support monitoring and observation of elections so that this time round, our elections in Kenya are peaceful,” Fr. Igweta said adding that the coordinators should prepare citizens through civic education so that people are not forced to vote for specific persons but be free to make their own choices.
