KENYA: Opposition Leader Heeds to Bishops Plea, Calls off Weekly Demonstrations

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

The leader of the opposition party in Kenya Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga on Sunday, April 2, called off weekly demonstration following request from the catholic Bishops on ceasefire agreement.

“We acknowledge the statement made by President William Ruto calling for dialogue between his administration and the opposition for the sake of our country which was taking the wrong direction, we are ready to engage him for the good of our country,” the former Prime minister said after the Catholic Bishops among other actors asked the opposition to give dialogue a chance.

Over the past two weeks, members of Azimio la Umoja one coalition and their followers have had three marches against the government on high cost of living and allegations on last year’s general elections among other concerns.

In their message shared on Sunday before the opposition leader called off the weekly protests which were being conducted every Monday and Thursday, members of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) had called for “a truce and suspension of all political demonstrations from the opposition,” saying that the “fratricidal conflict will have no winner because it can only lead to all of us losing what we truly hold dear.”

“We urge all our leaders, specifically our President and Hon. Raila Odinga, and all their advisors, that for the love we have for our country, and for the love and respect of those who have suffered, lost lives, and for the love of God whose places of worship have been desecrated, to stop for a moment, from pushing the conflict any further,” reads part of the Bishops statement read by the KCCB Chairman, Archbishop Martin Kivuva Musonde of Mombasa Archdiocese.

The fact that the Catholic Church were entering “Holy Week” since the commencement of Lenten period which is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity, and the Muslims are in their Holy Month of Ramadhan the Church leaders had asked for respect of Church activities saying, “We are entering a most sacred time of the Holy Week when Christians commemorate the major events of Christianity. Our Muslim brothers and sisters are also in the Holy Month of Ramadhan. We are greatly disappointed that our ardent plea to our leaders to respect this holy time by suspending demonstrations for respect for God who they claim to give honour has been totally ignored and even mocked.”

“If the reasons moving us to whichever actions are truly Godly, the Week of Christ’s death, the Holy Month of Ramadhan would touch our leaders’ hearts,” they highlighted and continued, “We therefore ask all Kenyans who are God fearing, including our policemen, on their own personal decision, not to participate in demonstrations this week, and to refrain from all acts of violence or aggression. Let us not mock Christ’s sufferings and his death by our actions.”

The Catholic Bishops further warned against “celebrative gatherings and prayer meetings organized by Government and political leaders”, explaining that “with the political nuances witnessed in such gatherings and prayer meetings, we question the intention behind them. Indeed, there will be no good will in pursuing a violent path or a path of revenge by using such gatherings.”

They also demanded “a public apology” from law enforcement agents guilty of “grave negligence”, which they termed “truly inexcusable”.

The opposition leader noted in his address that in case there will be “no meaningful engagement or response” from the President, the protests would begin again in one week’s time,

“We are calling off our weekly demonstration for Monday and Thursday this week but we will resume them in the next week if there will be no meaningful engagement with the Ruto administration where we are asking that all our demands are met,” the former prime Minister said.

The bishops went ahead to caution Kenya’s to be wise on making decisions on what is right and wrong so that peace may prevail.

“We the Catholic Bishops, invite all Kenyans to be true judges of what is right and wrong. Wrong is wrong and right is right,” the emphasized in their Sunday message and continued, “We ask our leaders to avoid personal attacks that only harden the radical positions they have taken. Let us all be actively engaged in seeking harmony and peace without losing sight of legitimate concerns that can be channeled soberly so that solutions may be found. We do not solve anything by letting emotions dictate our actions.”