Sunday Nation Team
3 December 2000
Nairobi — Police yesterday announced the arrests of 82 people following the burning of churches and a mosque in Nairobi. Meanwhile, top religious leaders accused the security forces of "inaction" during the violence.
The mainstream Christian churches and the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) blamed the spread of the mayhem on Thursday and Friday on failure by the police to take decisive action.
Vice-President George Saitoti condemned the violence. He called for calm, adding that Kenyans should not interpret the skirmishes as rivalry between Christians and Muslims.
Prof Saitoti was speaking at Bul-Bul, Nkaimurunya and Ongata Rongai trading centres in Ngong Division, Kajiado District, during a meet-the-people tour. He blamed the violence on hooliganism and appealed to youth to respect the law and refuse to be used by inciters.
The Kenya Episcopal Conference of the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) and the Supkem said the destruction and violence would not have spread if police had intervened earlier.
"We condemn the mute connivance of the Government arms, especially the security personnel. We can no longer stand a security system that watches people torch religious houses as they barricade those willing to put out the fire from reaching them," the Catholics said.
Catholic and Protestant bishops, Supkem officials, lobby groups and MPs appealed to Muslim youths and slum dwellers fighting over land to resolve the issue peacefully.
Meanwhile, there were emotional scenes at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in South "B" as some worshippers broke down on seeing the burnt shell of their church.
And, in what was described as a silver lining in the dark cloud of the South "B" mayhem, a marriage and a baptism were conducted in the compound. The church also held a funeral Mass.
Peace and calm returned to the Fuata Nyayo slum, where the burning of a mosque sparked the orgy of violence.
Callers to the Sunday Nation's news desk criticised police for failing to stop the mob of youths who torched the church.
But Cabinet Minister Shariff Nassir defended the Government against claims that it was fanning the clashes to stall the Ufungamano faiths-led constitutional review. Mr. Nassir accused the Ufungamano House-based group of seeking to topple President Moi.
Mr. Nassir said the violence should not be seen as a war between Muslims and Christians, saying it had been fuelled by land grabbers.
The Muslims for Human Rights lobby group (Muhuri) asked the Government to set up an independent commission to investigate the violence. The committee should report to Parliament, the group said in a statement.
Police said 72 of the people in custody were arrested on Thursday and 10 on Friday.
In a statement to the Sunday Nation, Police spokesman Peter Kimanthi said the conditions of most of those admitted to hospitals had improved. He also denied media reports that the police stood by as the Catholic church burned and the fighting raged. He said the fighting was purely an act of hooliganism.
He said the following properties were destroyed;
*Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church was gutted;
*The International Christian Centre on Mombasa Road had its windows shattered and two vehicles set ablaze;
*A clinic was razed;
*Two vehicles belonging to the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) and other private vehicles were stoned;
*The windows of a Seventh Day Adventist Church were shattered; and
*Macmillan Library's windows were smashed.
The NCCK secretary-general, the Rev Mutava Musyimi, claimed the violence had been instigated to distract Kenyans' attention from the constitutional review process. The Rev Musyimi was speaking to reporters at the All Saints Cathedral after flagging off a 12-km fund-raising walk for St Paul's United Theological College, Limuru.
At the same time, the Catholic Church put the cost of the damage at the church at up to Sh10 million. Addressing a press conference at the Holy Family Basilica, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Nairobi Catholic Diocese, David Kamau, condemned the use of violence to solve disputes. Kabete MP Paul Muite said blame should be squarely with the government for allowing illegal allocation of land to buy political support.
Makadara MP Paul Mugeke said police could have saved the Church had they acted fast enough.
Dagoretti MP Beth Mugo called on the Government to settle slum dwellers and issue them with title deeds to avert similar ugly incidents.
Speaking at his hospital bed, Prof Kivutha Kibwana of the National Council Executive Committee said their mission to the mosque on Friday was to reconcile the groups.
Supkem chairman A. Al-Busaidy said the action was committed by hooligans. "We are saddened by loss of life, injuries and destruction of property," he said.
Prof Busaidy, who addressed a press conference at Nairobi's Jamia Mosque in the presence of top Muslim leaders including assistant minister Yusuf Haji, reiterated that there was no war between Muslims and Christians.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2000 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
