Quit to avert chaos in 2017 general elections, Kenyan churches tell IEBC

NCCK Secretary General Peter Karanja (left) and chairperson Rosemary Mbogo address the Press at Jumuia Place in Limuru yesterday. [PHOTO: WILLIS AWANDU/ STANDARD]

NAIROBI: The umbrella body of churches yesterday said the national electoral commissioners had lost credibility to supervise the next polls and demanded that they leave office.

At a press conference, the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) demanded electoral reforms, a new Supreme Court and public testing of all electronic equipment to be used in the General Election scheduled for August next year.

“Kenya cannot afford another wave of violence or mere police intervention to restrain a disgruntled citizenry from systemic electoral malfunctions,” said NCCK General Secretary Canon Peter Karanja.

Speaking at Jumuia Place in Limuru, the Council called for adequate preparations to ensure that no individual or institution bungled the elections.

The NCCK top leadership urged President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto, CORD leader Raila Odinga and all politicians to agree to national dialogue on reconciliation ahead of the next polls.

“A candid confrontation of the issues that divide us, create fear and mistrust and thus justify ethnic mobilisation and conflict, with a view to building consensus on their authentic resolution, is our country’s best insurance against self-destruction,” Canon Karanja said.

The religious leaders’ message comes weeks after the Catholic bishops; Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and the civil society warned of violence in the next elections unless the government does “something radical.”

DEEP-SEATED DIVISIONS

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, has warned that only three out of ten Kenyans have confidence that the IEBC will carry out credible elections.

In the NCCK’s view, the narrative of the Jubilee coalition that the unity between the President and his deputy was insurance against violence was flawed, because “they are only carrying half of Kenya, while the other half has been left out”.

“... the deep-seated divisions that have caused violence around past elections appear to have become worse. A close analysis of the possible scenarios particularly around presidential and gubernatorial contests paint a picture of a country that is characterised by desperation and militancy which can tear the country and counties apart, leaving in their wake deeper wounds than we have experienced before,” Karanja said.

The warning also comes against a backdrop of threats by the Opposition to boycott the next polls if the current IEBC commissioners will conduct the exercise. The Opposition has demanded far-reaching reforms to address the failures of the commission in the 2013 polls.

The NCCK bosses said the “desperation” by the Jubilee coalition to stay in power and the Opposition to take power, if mishandled by the IEBC, could spark electoral violence.

However, National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale dismissed warnings about electoral violence and termed Karanja a “prophet of doom”.

“President Kenyatta and his deputy have charted a path of unity as we head to the next elections all the way into the future, which will guarantee peace and prosperity,” said Mr Duale in an interview with The Standard on Saturday.

He insisted that the Constitution had clear steps on how commissioners of the IEBC can be removed from office and Parliament was working on amendments of election laws and those that govern political parties.

“We have a new Constitution. It will be dangerous to push it aside so that we have politicians sit in a corner and decide the referee for the next elections. You can’t say that Raila and Kenyatta and all the people vying should sit and decide on the commissioners. No way! We are working on the laws in Parliament to reform the electoral process. Nobody is going to fight. Tell the NCCK that they are religious leaders and it is wrong for them to preach violence. They should be preaching peace,” said Duale.

He said the Judiciary was already working on the succession of Chief Justice Willy Mutunga to avert a crisis at the Supreme Court in case of a dispute in the presidential election results.

MESSAGE IGNORED

Constitutional lawyer Nzamba Kitonga concurred with Duale that the commissioners’ exit must done within the law. “If, as it is being alleged, the commissioners have committed a crime, the process of their removal as laid out in the Constitution must be followed to the letter. But if it is the alleged loss of confidence that people are citing, then the best way to deal with them is to encourage them to leave office early voluntarily,” said Kitonga.

University of Nairobi scholar Dr Godwin Murunga said the NCCK was “sending the right message at the wrong time” because all the issues they raised have been a constant message within the civil society that has been ignored by the political elite.

“The problem right now is that we have no more ICC cases, and therefore the threshold for impunity is high. The NCCK can’t call politicians to the table at a time like this when their minds are on the next ballot. It is dangerous,” said Murunga.