The Catholic Bishops of Kenya have said that they see the ICC ruling involving the Deputy President and a Journalist not as an outcome of winners and losers, instead an opportunity to be more conscious of the plight of the victims of post –election violence, to invest more in building true reconciliation and work towards a truly united Nation.
In their Press statement issued at the end of their Ordinary Plenary Assembly in Nairobi on 8th April 2016, the Bishops stated that the outcome of the ruling does not resolve the cause and pain of the violence.
“We realize that the trauma of the post-election violence has not been fully healed. Moreover, many of the displaced persons still have not gotten justice,” they said adding that “It must never be forgotten that many people lost their lives; thousands more were displaced and have never gone back to normal life.”
The Bishops appealed to the National Government and other County Governments, to offer solutions for the victims, through compensations and plans of reconciliation and integration. “This is an opportunity for Kenya to sincerely demonstrate its commitment of NEVER again to take the Country back to the dark days of 2007/2008,” they said.
Recently, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has thrown out the case against Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto and a Journalist Joshua Sang. The two were alleged with murder, deportation and persecution charges during the violence that followed the 2007 elections in which about 1,200 people were killed. The court ruled, there was insufficient evidence.
On the issue of corruption, the Catholic Bishops said that it is the cancer that is killing the country. “The fact that the cancer has spread to all arms of government and is going on in both national and County Governments, as well as other sectors of the Kenyan society, tempts one to despair and to give up without a fight,” they said adding that “We can’t give up. Now is the time to rise and face this malignant disease with all the weapons we have.”
The Bishops pointed their finger to the Police and other security agencies saying that the endemic corruption in their offices has become one of those diseases that have eaten into the fabric of the Nation, thereby exposing Kenyans to the perennial threats of terrorism, insecurity and violence.
“This is clearly obvious to Kenyans in the bribes exchanged at police check points and stations. Our borders are not secure, our roads are mere collection points, our towns and villages are not safe. Kenyans do not feel safe,” they said.
“Kenyans! give no bribe, receive no bribe!” they stated.
By AMECEA Online News Reporter
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