Nairobi — Victims burned to death in a Kenya Assemblies of God church in what was seen as one of the ugliest symbols of violence that followed the country's disputed December 2007 election have been laid to rest with pleas that their killings trigger healing.
"Let the deaths of these people be a catalyst of love, peace and unity," the Roman Catholic Bishop of Eldoret in the west of Kenya, Cornelius Korir, told mourners on 14 May, more than one year after the people were killed.
"Let the deaths remind us to seek God's forgiveness. Let us remember to forgive one another," said Bishop Korir. "When we remember this, our country will be healed. Let us not fear to build our country through forgiveness."
President Mwai Kibaki attended the interdenominational burial ceremony for 36 people, 14 of them who perished in the church that was burned down, and he urged Kenyans to reconcile, unite and forgive one another.
"It is very disturbing for those of us who fear God to note that the departed were burned to death in a church, a place of worship, where they sought refuge," noted Kibaki. "I appeal to Kenyans to pray for those who visited violence on their fellow countrymen, so that they may seek forgiveness, and commit themselves to respecting human life."
A protesting mob had torched the KAG Church in the Kiambaa area, near the town of Eldoret hours after Kibaki had declared himself the winner of the disputed 2007 general elections, which opponents say were rigged. In the Kiambaa attack 36 people died, mainly women and children.
"I suffered a great loss, but all of us who lost relatives have decided to forgive. We welcome those who offended us to join us in forgiving each other. We have nowhere else to go because this is our home," Joseph Githuku, who lost his wife and a child, told the mourners.
Church leaders said reconciliation efforts were bearing fruit, with some people owning up and seeking forgiveness.
Kenya's High Court on 30 April released four men accused of torching the church due to insufficient evidence for a conviction.
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Kenyans must learn to live within the Law. Unless those who killed others in the last elections are brought to account, then Kenya is just a country of outlaws where justice no longer exists. Whether Kikuyus, Kalenjin, Luos Meru or Maasai, all kenyans must be aware that breaking the law will bring its own consequencies. What is going on now is a downward spiral and must likely a civil war. The refusal of the ODM to attend the burials of the dead at Kiambaa is an indication that they stand with those who caused this meyham. While I stopped respecting Raila Odinga in 1982 after he was implicated in the attempted coup that caused unnecessary deaths to Kenyans, I believe that a person with limited panaromic vision such as his could have found a way to convey his disatisfaction with what they believe happened in Kiambaa and still stand with those who were mourning. Religious leaders must be aware that Religion and start must be seperate and should not be looked with the same eyes.