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Clerics: Our churches, mosques are open for flood victims

Floods leave a trail of destruction in Mathare, Nairobi, on April 24, 2024. (Photo: Hanifa Adan/EV)

By Barack Oduor | 30 Apr 2024

They have begun mobilising worshippers to collect relief materials to help those who are affected by floods.

The national umbrella of religious organisations in the country has asked Kenyans displaced by the ongoing floods in various parts of their country to seek refuge in churches and mosques.

Religious leaders drawn from the National Council of Churches of Kenya(NCCK), the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims in their 4th National Dialogue Conference held at Ufungamano House in Nairobi said they have begun mobilising worshippers to collect relief materials to help those who are affected by floods.

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Led by Rt. Rev Simon Peter Kamomoe who is the chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, NCCK General Secretary Rev. Chris Kinyanjui and Secretary General of SUPKEM Abdullahi Salat, the clerics urged the government to come to the rescue of those displaced by the floods.

"We continue to pray for all the affected families for quick recovery. Our places of worship across the country are open at all times to house and support to all who have been displaced. We are also mobilizing worshippers in our congregations to collect relief materials to share with the affected families," said Rev. Kinyanjui.

The clerics also said they are deeply saddened by the death and suffering occasioned by the ongoing strike by doctors and other medical workers.

They called upon the national and county governments, as well as the medical workers, to engage in genuine and meaningful dialogue.

"It is painful for Kenyans to watch their loved ones die from easily treatable conditions. We restate that the religious leaders are ready and willing to mediate in the dialogue," said Kinyanjui.

They also waded into the issue of reconstitution of the electoral agency of the country. They want urgent reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as provided for in the Constitution of Kenya.

In their view, the Constitution does not anticipate a situation where the country is without the capacity to constitute its democratic organs. It is therefore a strong breach of the Constitution that Kenya has now gone for 16 months without a properly constituted Commission.

"Already, there are two constituencies, Banissa and Lagdera, and four wards, Nyamaiwa, Kisa East, Lakezone, and Chewena, that are without Members of the National Assembly and Members of County Assembly respectively. On its part, Kisii County is without a Deputy Governor since there is no Commission to gazette the new appointment," said Rev. Kamomoe.

They lamented that the crisis in the electoral body is a breach of the constitutional rights of these Kenyan citizens. In addition, the country is in a state of a constitutional crisis following the breach of the deadline for the delimitation of boundaries.

In wading into the reform process in the country, the Men of Cloth now wants political leadership in the country to lead a reform process that is people-driven.

They claim that the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) Report came out of an elitist process that did not address the issues of concern of the people of Kenya.