By Arnold Neliba
NAIROBI, JULY 18, 2023 (CISA)-Most Rev Anthony Muheria Archbishop of the Catholic archdiocese of Nyeri has asked the government and the opposition to unite and speak on the needs of the country and how to address challenges Kenyans are facing.
“We as leaders of the church have always wanted to put across the message of tolerance and that the fact that you have won and you are in government and the other part is in opposition does not mean that you cannot work towards a common good. The common good would be to countercheck the government in opposition and in government to respect the other party and carry out the part of governance,” the archbishop said.
The rising cost of living, corruption, nepotism respect for the rule of law and bitterness from the past among politicians are among the issues he mentioned to be having a huge impact on citizens. During the July 16 Sunday live interview on Citizen TV, he asked the government to deliver their promises to the people instead of turning attacks to the opposition.
“I think that is what we should be asking the government of the day first to deliver because that is why we elected them. Let them focus so much on delivery other than the rhetoric,” he said while calling on President William Ruto and his administration to find a structured way of governance that tends to the plight of Kenyans and that public participation in crucial matters should actually involve citizens.
“We must touch the ground, we must know how people on the ground feel. That’s why we ask the government to listen to the plight of Kenyans. The silence, the ignorance…we need a structured way of governance, we need people to be accountable and have a jurisdiction that has limits. Public participation must actually be public participation,” Archbishop Muheria added.
According to the archbishop, “Leadership needs to be humane, empathetic, compassionate. Currently, the leader is rough, insulting, arrogant and imposing. We are going into a very wrong leadership, which is why religious leaders want to talk.”
The archbishop of Nyeri singled out stewardship as the missing ingredient in a lot of Kenyan leaders alongside respect for human dignity of each leader and each Kenyan portrayed in the tone of discussions.
“…that spark within that cares, that looks for solidarity, that looks at the poor not as an instrument of your power. Not as a means for your gains but for his sake, for the human dignity. If we can as leaders start focusing on that… I think that is what we have to ask our leaders instead of going out there and doing, and speaking rhetoric. Let’s get the problems of our countries addressed properly. That’s maybe a long term goal for stewardship and governance,” he added.
Kenya stares at another three days of demonstrations called by the opposition from Wednesday July 19 to Friday July 21. This comes after Wednesday July 12 protests which claimed six lives.
As Kenyans demonstrate, the archbishop asked the police officers to be human when dealing with demonstrators. “The police must learn to be very humane. It’s not acceptable to use live bullets even in these circumstances. We cannot condone the use of live ammunition and brutality of police even with people who are doing ill.”
