Gikuyu elders blame Western countries for insecurity, asks ICC to intervene

Gikuyu Council of Elders condemned killings and destruction that occurred in Mpeketoni. [PHOTO: STANDARD]

NAKURU COUNTY: The Gikuyu Council of Elders is now blaming some Western countries for the current political anxiety and impasse in the country.

While calling for unity, the council vowed that it would not allow the country to be split on political, religious and ethnic lines.

Over 1,000 members who had converged in Naivasha called for peaceful coexistence noting that some politicians should not be allowed to cause chaos in the country.

The elders were quick to warn CORD leader Raila Odinga and some senators that they would be held responsible in case violence erupted in the country.

Addressing the press in Club Heritage in Naivasha, the elders drawn from 16 counties expressed their concern over the planned political meetings by CORD members.

According to the council national chairman Ndung'u Wa Gaituma, the planned meetings were meant to cause anxiety among Kenyans.

Flanked by other elders, Gaituma noted that similar calls for mass action in 2007 led to deaths and loss of life and called on Kenyans to ignore the meetings.

He said that Kenya was a sovereign state and called on foreign countries which he did not name to keep off from Kenya's affairs.

"We know there are some Western forces behind calls by the CORD alliance for mass action and we shall not allow this to split us," he said.

He said that the council stood by the Jubilee government adding that the opposition should respect the will of Kenyans who went to the ballot in 2013.

On the Mpeketoni killings, the council condemned the killings of the innocent Kenyans and retaliated that they were politically instigated.

Gaituma called on the ICC to keep watch on the current on goings adding that the presidency should be respected at all cost.

"We know that the killings in Mpeketoni in Lamu were politically instigated and all those behind the murder should be exposed and prosecuted," he said.

The meeting was also used to pray for the country with calls for sustained peace and harmony among Kenyans.