Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
22 January 2008
As Catholics marked a special day of prayer for peace around the country on Sunday, Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi and chairman of the Kenya Episcopal Conference, made an passionate call for an end to post-election chaos in Kenya.
Responsibility for ending the chaos lies with President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga, the cardinal said during mass at the St Augustine Catholic Church in Juja near the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The two politicians should meet without giving any preconditions.
"Go beyond where you are. Look ahead and realize that for Kenya to be peaceful, for current tribal divisions to end, and for the killings of innocent people to stop, you must dialogue," Cardinal Njue said, according to one of the country's leading dailies, The Standard.
The country generally remains calm, though there have been isolated incidents of killings and destruction of property in Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret and other parts of Rift Valley Province. Some 700 people have been killed in post-election chaos in the last four weeks.
Former UN Secretary General Koffi Annan was expected in Nairobi Tuesday to lead a team of African mediators in the latest attempts to broker a deal between Kibaki and Raila.
"Stop the evil deeds between tribes," Cardinal Njue implored. "Please let us keep the peace. For heaven's sake, let us not become instruments of evil. Whether you come from Nyanza, Western, Coast or Mt. Elgon, we are all equal before the eyes of God."
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