By Arnold Neliba
NAIROBI, AUGUST 2, 2022 (CISA) – Catholic Bishops in Africa have joined the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) in asking Kenyans to maintain peace and national cohesion reminding Kenyans how the serenity in Kenya has safeguarded citizens from neighboring countries from warzone.
Bishop Tombe Trille Kuku of the Catholic diocese of El Obeid, Sudan noted how the peace in Kenya has rescued nationals from Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Sudan, South-Sudan and Congo pleading with citizens to cherish the value of peace during and after the August 9, General Elections.
“You are even most luck people to be part and parcel of electing your leader, the leaders that are going to lead you. Many of our countries in Africa do not have that chance to bring in leaders that lead them. With this luck of yours, with this peace you have in Kenya take elections serious and be people of peace,” Bishop Kuku said.
Having been in Kenya, between 2002 and 2007 for his studies, the bishop confesses to having experienced a lot of calmness, more of which he witnessed when he visited Kakuma refugee camp in the Northern part of Kenya which hosts nationals from different countries in Africa. “The president comes and goes and the nation will remain and you take the nation to heart and appoint a good leader that will lead you.”
Echoing the words of Bishop Kuku, Archbishop Mengisteab Tesfamariam of the Catholic Archdiocese of Eritrea observed that “Elections are moments or opportunities given to us to express our wish so that we may have good governance, fair elections bring good governance.”
“I want to assure you that we will pray on that day and afterwards that the elections go smoothly and that they are fair and the voice of the people is listened to. We are always coming to Kenya and we have always been welcomed in a very good way, may God bless you and bless your country,” added Archbishop Tesfamariam.
As member bishops of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops stay committed to their campaign dubbed ‘voice of the Bishops’, Archbishop Martin Kivuva Musonde, Chairman of KCCB has asked for level-headedness and sobriety from all involved in the elections from the IEBC to the government agencies.
“We must not sell it off through cheap hand-outs in these last days. We are now in the final lap heading to the election of our leaders. We citizens must play our part, and resume our normal public life after voting,” he said in a statement dated July 31.
Next week on Tuesday, August 9, Kenyans will go to polls to elect, the President, Governors, senators, Women Representatives, Members of Parliament and Members of Country Assemblies.
