From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste in images
TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2013

Bondo Catholic faithful came in good number to give thanks to God for having protected them whole of last year and asking Him to do the same in the New Year. As Kenyans are preparing to vote in March this year, Parish Priest, Fr Gradus Ochieng called on his flock to vote wisely.

He said there is directive from Kisumu Archdiocese that ban politicians from campaigning in any of their churches, especially this time that the nation moves to the 2013 general elections.

The Diocese had resolved not to allow campaigns in churches to avoid confusing the congregation. This is the time he said politicians come to church to make empty promises. The directive he said is not for some politicians, but it is for all regardless of their superiority.

Fr Ochieng said the directives are given because the Church represents the moral conscience of the nation and she is expected to spell out what is good or bad, right or wrong in the political life of a given community.

Apart from directives, majority of Kenyans have also lost trust in Kenyan leaders whom they accuse of selfishness. This is because since independence Kenyan politics has never been about the well-being of Kenyans but has always been centred on politicians’ selfish motives and propensity for lofty offices, awarding themselves hefty salaries.

That is why in Kenya, alliances formed by our political parties are centered on boardroom negotiations revolving around how parties will share positions based on their perceived numerical strengths.

Kenyans need politics about how Kenya will be transformed into an industrialised country based on vision 2030. Now with old politicians been recycled, is why Kenyans have lost trust because these leaders, many of them who want to vie for Governors and Senators have never developed their constituencies since they entered politics, some since early 1990s.

Like Catholic Church, the church, through its leader Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, has also directed that Anglican Church will not receive gifts from politicians or allow the pulpit to be used to spur animosity among Kenyans.

“We must embrace humility and become wiser as the country nears the General Elections. We will not allow the church pulpits be used by politicians to attack each other,” Archbishop Wabukala said on Sunday after leading a Sunday worship session at the All Saints Cathedral Church in Nairobi.

As a church he said they will remain non-partisan, but politicians who want to divide Kenyans on tribal lines should be discouraged at all costs.

The statements by the head of the Anglican Church in the country follow an earlier resolution by several priests from Mombasa Catholic Archdiocese who warned MPs William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta, former Civil Service boss Francis Muthaura and journalist Joshua Sang, who are accused of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC), against holding prayers in their churches.

“I, as the Archbishop of Mombasa, and my 80 priests will not allow the four suspects to hold prayers in our place. This will be tantamount to promoting impunity, which this country must abhor,” said Archbishop Boniface Lele of Mombasa Archdiocese.

The Seventh Day Adventist church, through a newsletter to all its branches, also directed church elders not to use the church podium to campaign for their preferred political parties or leaders.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Facebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.
-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ UN Disarmament Conference, 2002