Uproar over Sunday attack on churches, as public demands security

A victim of the church attack in Likoni at the emergency ward of Coast General Hospital in Mombasa.  [PHOTO: STANDARD]

By STANLEY MWAHANGA

MOMBASA, KENYA: Calls for enhanced security on churches are set to increase following Sunday’s carnage at a church in Likoni, Mombasa.

Late last year, following shooting to death of three priests and arson on churches, Christian leaders called for the arming of priests.

Christians blame Jihadists for most of the arson on churches and Sunday’s events are bound to polarize the two religions most. There has been growing tension in most slums and impoverished sections of Mombasa where Christians are said to account for about 59 per cent of the county population, according to a survey by Ipsos Synovate conducted last year.

Both faiths resent the building of mosques and churches in their respective neighbourhoods and global events such as the crisis in Central African Republic are increasingly becoming points of relevance in this volatile town.

Relations tilted to a tipping point when police stormed the controversial Masjid Musa to flush out Muslims attending a jihadist convention and five people, including a police officer, were killed.

While Muslims were united in opposing the raid, many Christians silently approved of the storming in and accused police of allowing radical priests to propagate hate against Christians.

In turn, Muslim fundamentalists resent the mainly Christian security forces and civil service conjuring a message that the Christians in Mombasa are pro-West and act at the behest of anti-Muslim forces globally.

On February 2, Lawrence Kazungu Kadenge, assistant pastor of the Glory of God Ministries Church, was found dead in his house in Mombasa and supporters claimed he had been killed by “Muslim extremists”.

Like in all previous deaths and murders of Muslims preachers and Christian priests, no one has been brought to book over Kadenge’s killing.

Two evangelical priests were killed in near simultaneous killings in Mombasa and Kilifi on October 19 last year.

Pastor Charles Mathole of the Redeemed Gospel Church in Kisauni was gunned downed in Mombasa while his East African Pentecostal Church counterpart Ibrahim Kithaka was kidnapped and killed in a vicious axe attack.

Attacks since 2011 in the Coast region have also seen grenade and homemade bombs hurled at Christian multitudes in prayer.