Following the violent clashes in Kibra, the Interreligious Council of Kenya and human rights activists have urged President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga to meet and defuse the country’s political tensions.
The leaders condemned the violence that resulted in the torching of a section of a mosque, the PCEA church, and surrounding stalls in Kibra constituency, urging Raila to call off the protests and find other ways to address his grievances.
“We call on his Excellency the President William Ruto and the former prime minister the right honorable Raila Odinga to have unconditional meetup and discussion to quell political tension in the country,” said the leaders.
“Azimio One Kenya Coalition, we call upon you to call off the demonstration and use alternative approaches to handle your grievances,” they added.
The leaders compared the chaos in Kibra to the post-election violence in 2007-2008, which killed over 1000 people and displaced thousands more.
They urged all politicians to avoid using inflammatory language and inciting their supporters, which they claimed “inadvertently led to last night’s unfortunate events in Kibra.”
“We urge civil society organizations to retain their position as dependable nerve centers of good governance, leadership, and national security advocacy. We urge religious leaders to fully engage political leaders in nonpartisan ways for the good of the country,” said the leaders.
The groups also urged the media to provide nonpartisan coverage and reporting of political events so that media coverage and reporting are not misconstrued to fuel political motives.
They also urged the political class to refrain from mobilising in order to disrupt the country’s peace and urged the National Security Council to intervene and direct the state’s response to internal threats.
“The events of last night force us to travel back in time to the sad memories of brother against brother, Kenyan against Kenyan in the aftermath of the 2007, 2008 post-election confrontation, that metamorphosed into dark days of violence killings, destruction of property and displacement of persons in their thousands. The stain of that time remains our national shame to date,” the leaders said.
Already, Ruto’s camp has rejected calls for a ‘handshake,’ with Trade CS Moses Kuria teasing that the government would employ tactics similar to those employed by Presidents Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni.
Raila has also stated that he is not looking for a “handshake,” but rather that the government address the high cost of living, halt the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), and open the election servers to determine who won the August 2022 elections.
