Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
29 October 2008
Nairobi — Churches here are yet to formally react to a public report released nearly two weeks ago which implicates cabinet ministers, Members of Parliament and businessmen in the post-election violence in January.
Sources said the Kenya Episcopal Conference has appointed a team to study the findings before the Catholic Church speaks out on it.
The report has provoked intense public debate, especially its recommendation that the alleged perpetrators face a special tribunal in Kenya or the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
Agriculture Minister William Ruto, of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party in the Grand Coalition Government, has said he is ready to face the law if he is among the suspects named by the Commission of Inquiry into the Post Election Violence. The names and evidence against the suspects are contained in a sealed envelop that is the custody of the former UN secretary General Kofi Annan.
President Mwai Kibaki has said the report will be implemented, but proposed that justice be tempered with forgiveness. Prime Minister Raila Odinga is of the view that the findings be fully implemented.
Media reports here quoted the head of the Anglican Church Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi as supporting full implementation of the reports on post-election violence and the flawed elections.
"We call upon the government to act swiftly and decisively in implementing both reports as Kenyans and the international community are anxiously waiting," Nzimbi said on Sunday.
He singled out the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) for reforms, arguing that Kenyans have lost confidence in it and want the electoral body to be disbanded and replaced with an efficient one.
Speaking to CISA, Fr Jude Waweru, head of Justice and Peace Department at Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) backed the setting up of a specila tribunal as recommended.
"I personally encourage the tribunal that is going to be set up to prosecute people who perpetrated election chaos and to see to it that justice is done. African leaders perpetrate crimes with impunity, a culture we need to move away from. No one is beyond the law," he said.
"If the Waki report is not implemented, then the people of Kenya will not take the law seriously. This will bring disorder and anarchy. The journey of reconciliation and healing is not easy. But the truth must be known. It should be understood why chaos happened and who was responsible. People should not shy away. 'PR justice' or whitewashing will not help, and can only bring temporary justice."
But Francis Murey, the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission coordinator in Kericho Diocese, one the worst-hit areas, expressed caution. The post-election violence report is very sensitive and its implementation could return the country to chaos, he warned. The timing of the report's release is not right since the country is still healing, he said.
Some 6,000 people displaced in Kericho and the surrounding areas are still living in church compounds and at market places, Murey said.
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