A STATEMENT BY THE COUNCIL OF PRESIDENTS
OF THE INTER-RELIGIOUS COUNCIL OF UGANDA
ON THE POST-ELECTION CRISIS IN KENYA
8 JANUARY 2008
APPEAL FOR PEACE AND TOLERANCE
Preamble
We, the Council of Presidents, Inter-religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) gathered here under the guidance of the Almighty God, this 8th day of January, 2008 at IRCU offices Kampala solemnly covenant together in the articles of this statement in order to proclaim ourselves on the political crisis in our sister country – Kenya. Present at this meeting are Elder Pastor John L. Wani, President of the Seventh Day Adventist Uganda Union/Chairperson of the IRCU Council of Presidents, His Grace the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi, Archbishop of the Church of the Province of Uganda, His Grace Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese, His Eminence Sheikh Shaban Mubaje, Mufti of Uganda, His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga, Archbishop of the Uganda Orthodox Church
The Life we Share with Others
We affirm that we are all servants and creatures of God, and life is a gift from God.
As representatives of the religious fraternity in Uganda, and guided by the holy teachings of love, peace, justice and unity, we are deeply saddened by the current fragile political situation in Kenya after the Presidential and Parliamentary elections of December 27th 2007. We have been dismayed by the sad reports of the demise of our brothers and sisters in the various parts of Kenya, notably in the western town of Eldoret in the Rift Valley, where about 50 people seeking refuge in a Church died when a mob set fire to the building. Looting and fires have been witnessed in Kisumu, Mombasa and various parts of Nairobi City following the incident. Reports estimate that between 250,000 and 500,000 Kenyans have been displaced by the violence in the country, with many people fleeing to Uganda and Tanzania, and over 600 people have lost their lives.
This includes 256 students from Colleges and Universities in Kenya who were attending a retreat in Rwanda, and are now stranded at Kireka Seventh Day Primary School in Wakiso District because they cannot return to Kenya following the political unrest there.
Our Unity and Common Life
Inspired by the holy teachings of reaching out to those in need, providing food to the hungry, cloth to those who do not have cloths, shelter to the homeless, hope to the hopeless, we applaud the local and international humanitarian agencies like the Kenya Red Cross, Lutheran World Relief, the ACT Kenya Forum, AMREF, Direct Relief International, the OGRA Foundation, Church World Service and Norwegian Church Aid, with local implementing partners including the Kenyan Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya for responding to this humanitarian crisis and mobilizing some emergency food relief items for the displaced people in the Nairobi slums and in Kisumu, as well as closely monitoring the humanitarian situation in the rest of the country and determining the best ways to respond to the calamity.
We equally appreciate and applaud the neigbouring countries that are accommodating our brothers and sisters in need.
Answering the Call for Mediation and Conflict Resolution
Guided by the holy teaching of unity for a common purpose, and the need for the servants of God to resolve their differences before the day breaks, we appreciate the mediation efforts by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the European Union, the African Union, and the USA State Department and their appeal for calm.
God has bestowed State leaders with the responsibility of ensuring that peace, harmony and peaceful co-existence prevail between and among nations and their nationals. We acknowledge the appeals for calm that have been made by United Kingdom and the United States, among others, with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown raising the possibility of an administration that includes both Odinga and Kibaki who was sworn in for his second term in office. The ruling and opposition parties have been urged to try to form a national unity government in Kenya. We are appreciative of Mr. Kibaki’s and Mr. Odinga’s willingness to have dialogue as a means to end the unrest in Kenya.
Here therefore, the IRCU Council of Presidents recommends the following:
1. Tolerance, peaceful co-existence and harmony among the people of Kenya and the politicians be a priority. All conflicting parties are advised to condemn the violence.
2. The candidates be guided by true principles of democracy that are meant to in-discriminatively unite every one towards the common good for all while at the same time seek legal redress of whatever grievances they have and shun violent approaches.
3. Heads of Governments together with religious leaders in the African continent help build consensus and mediate in the political crisis in Kenya. In addition, the leaders of the neigbouring countries play the role of peacemakers in order not to be construed to be supporting any one of the contenders to allow for fair decisions.
4. The Government of Kenya, the political parties and other groups, the Secretariat of the East African Community and the African Union chart a way forward to quickly restore peace and harmony in Kenya.
5. The tribal sentiments expressed verbally by the different actors and voiced in both the local and international media that seem to paint the whole violent situation a genocidal picture be avoided at all costs.
6. The media be more informative, educative, sensitive and responsible especially in regard to the fact that at this moment, the country is in dire need of unity, solidarity, cooperation, love, peace and selflessness.
7. The local and international humanitarian agencies come to the rescue and support of the suffering people of God in Kenya.
8. The neighbouring countries come to the support of the displaced people in Kenya who are seeking refuge in their respective countries.
Conclusion
Leaders have the responsibility of judgment and deciding about their utility in governance. We equally appeal to African Leaders to devise means of peaceful transition of Governments and proper management of the democratization process.
We pray that the Almighty God gives the people of Kenya fortitude to stand against political and tribal divisions and ensure genuine love peace and harmony.
Signed:
His Eminence Elder Pastor John L. Wani
President of the Seventh Day Adventist
Uganda Union/
Chairperson IRCU Council of Presidents
His Grace the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi
Archbishop of the Province of Church of Uganda/
Member, IRCU Council of Presidents
His Grace Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga
Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese/
Member, IRCU Council of Presidents
His Eminence Sheikh Shaban Mubaje
Mufti of Uganda/
Member, IRCU Council of Presidents
His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga
Archbishop of the Uganda Orthodox Church/
Member, IRCU Council of Presidents
To read more about Religions for Peace action in Kenya, please click here.
