Church Leaders Call for Restraint after Landmark Supreme Court Ruling in Kenya

September 4, 2017, Nairobi—The Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK) leadership has urged political parties to respect the Judiciary and Electoral constitutional bodies in a press briefing held on the 4^th of September, 2017 at the Biblica Guest House in Nairobi, Kenya.

They asked the leaders of both Jubilee and The National Super Alliance (NASA), to exercise sobriety, sound wisdom, and desist from issuing threats to personnel and officers in these bodies.

The leaders also called on Kenyans to embrace peace and not be divided along ethnic lines. EAK Chairman, Bishop Kariuki, however, expressed concern over cases of violence witnessed in some parts of the country, which he termed ‘unacceptable’. “No Kenyan should die because of exercising their democratic right to vote,” said Bishop Kariuki.

Bishop David Oginde, the EAK vice chairman, urged Acting Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i, Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet, and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to take stern action against errant officers. The statement released after the briefing read, ” “We are asking the Acting Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government to ensure that there is an enhancement of security, safety and to curtail any uprising of militia/vigilante groups in urban areas and to ensure that Kenyan lives are not lost.”

The leaders also pushed for the Supreme Court ruling to be availed to the  IEBC so as to initiate investigations on staff members that were responsible for botching the August 8^th 2017, General Election.

The Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK) leadership had earlier held a consultation meeting where they discussed matters of national concern touching on the Supreme Court verdict, the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling, Church engagement in the electoral process and matters touching on national security.