Nyanza church leaders demand action from President Ruto » Capital News
KISUMU, Kenya, Nov 18 – A section of Nyanza church leaders have backed the position of the Catholic Bishops as they issued eight irreducible minimums to President William Ruto.
The leaders say the country is headed in the wrong direction and it is only the clergy remaining standing to point at the wrongs being committed.
Bishop Mark Godia of Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Maseno West Diocese says the Catholic Bishops pointed out at the ills and were not adversarial.
Addressing a press conference in Kisumu on Monday at the ACK Maseno South Diocese church, Godia says the energy being used to criticize the church should be directed into looking into interventions to the problems bedeviling the country.
“It is a great pity that some leaders in this country can have the courage to criticize the Bishops for speaking against corruption in Kenya,” he said.
They took issue with Uasin Gishu Woman Representative Gladys Shollei, for her verbal attack on the Catholic Bishops.
Godia told politicians to go slow on the clergy who are out to call out the government on the excesses.
His Bondo Diocese counterpart Bishop David Kodia says the formation of the broad-based government exposed Kenyans to no representation.
For instance, in the Nyanza region, Bishop Kodia says the people were left on their own after President Ruto raided the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party to form an inclusive government.
“The nation has witnessed the worst cases of oppression in recent times, some orchestrated through commercialization of political leadership,” he said.
He noted that opposition voices virtually eclipsed the Nyanza region following the formation of a broad based government,” he said.
Kodia says currently, the region is yet to find a voice to air out their grievances to the government, thus the role now taken by the clergy.
The church in the region has therefore issued irreducible minimums to President Ruto as a sign that he is truly in charge of running the country in the right direction.
They want a publication of state appointments, list of those convicted of mega corruption, report on foreign travels, status of the offices of the 1st and 2nd ladies, revoking of the unpopular university funding model and implementation of the lectures return to work formulae.
Lastly, the Bishops want speedy appointment of the new Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Commissioners.
Godia says many Kenyans are now not represented in the County and National Assemblies since no IBC to conduct by elections.
“Even where I come from, Ugenya, we don’t have a Member of Parliament after President Ruto appointed our MP Opiyo Wandayi into his government,” he said.
He says lack of representation of a people denies them a Constitutional right.
The Bishops also touched on the failing healthcare system as they insist that the new model, Social Health Authority (SHA) will not solve the problems that the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) could not solve.
Bishop Edwin Ogolla of Church of Christ in Africa (CCA) says NHIF was riddled with corruption that led to billions of shillings in debt still owed to many health facilities.
“All these years the government turned a blind eye as many hospitals went into financial crises,” he said.
He says the government must quickly deal with systemic issues, including management and corruption in the health sector.
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