By Arnold Neliba
NAKURU, MAY 28, 2021 (CISA)-The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) has described the increase in extra judicial killings, kidnappings and dumping of bodies in forests and rivers as abhorring, warning that it depicts a deeper moral ill in the society.
In a press conference on Thursday, May 27 at the Marian National Shrine in Subukia, Nakuru during the bishops’ Ordinary Plenary Assembly the bishops warned that the country risks perpetuating a culture of intolerance and death.
“It is saddening that we are increasingly witnessing a rise in violence among Kenyans. We are witnessing people killing one another in families, among friends and at our learning institutions,” the bishops said in the statement read in part by Most Rev. Martin Kivuva Musonde, Archbishop of Mombasa and incoming Chairman of KCCB, and his vice Rt. Rev. Maurice Muhatia Makumba, bishop of the Catholic diocese of Nakuru.
“There is need to recover and promote the traditional ways of conflict resolution or in the absence of such mechanisms, take recourse to the law of the land to resolve disputes. We have to cultivate a culture of dialogue at all levels of our society,” the bishops said.
The bishop’s statement comes at a time when the country has witnessed a spate of disappearances and abductions that have ended up in killings, the most recent an American Somali businessman, Bashir Mohammed who went missing in Nairobi on Thursday May 13 and was later found dead. This happened as the police continued with investigations into the disappearance of four men who had disappeared in Kitengela.
The bishops also expressed worry over bandit attacks in Baringo County, particularly in Kapedo that has caused the displacement of people, and urged the government to provide security to all its citizens.
“Human life is a gift from God. No one has a right to take it and no-one’s life is more precious than that of the next person… Communities in Baringo deserve security and peace so that they can go about their daily duties. The state of anarchy in the region must be stopped,” the bishops said.
Extending their sympathies to the affected families, and assuring them of prayer and support, the prelates urged all Kenyans to promote and maintain peace.
