Religious leaders under the umbrella of National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) and Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, through a joint press statement have taken time to deeply thank all Kenyans for heeding their call and voting peacefully during the polls held on August 9, 2022.
The council has said that throughout the day of voting, they received reports from more than 3,000 observers spread across the country. They however, noted that although there were some logistical and technological hitches, polling progressed well in most of the stations.
“We commend the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for putting in place a structure to ensure efficiency in the process. We are however concerned that elections were suspended in some parts of the country. We urge the voters and candidates in the affected areas to remain peaceful and patient as they await the opportunity to vote for their leaders, which the IEBC has announced will be done soonest possible,” Rev Canon Chris Kinyanjui, NCCK.
As the tallying and verification of presidential results is underway at Bomas of Kenya, the clerics are calling upon all the IEBC officials, agents of political parties and candidates, and all others involved in the process to exercise the highest possible levels of transparency, accountability and accuracy.
“It will be an affront to Kenyans if the ballots they cast so faithfully are miscounted. Whereas the IEBC is constitutionally mandated to declare results, other actors have been allowed to undertake parallel tallying. We ask all who do so and broadcast their findings to continually inform their audiences that such results are provisional. This is to ensure that mistakes made by specific institutions do not mislead the public,” Rev Canon Chris Kinyanjui, NCCK.
Constitutional democracies such as Kenya are premised on competitive elections which produce winners and losers. Therefore, the religious leaders have called upon all candidates, supporters and commentators to carefully consider their words and actions in response to the results that are announced.
“Recognizing that every Kenyan has a role to play in the betterment of our society, we encourage both winners and losers to accept the will of the people.
As provided for in law, any candidate or Kenyan who is dissatisfied with the results may seek legal redress. No one should incite Kenyans to engage in violence on account of the election results,” Rt Rev John Oballa, Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops.
They have encouraged Kenyans, all actors and stakeholders to act responsibly and at all times endeavor to preserve peace and national cohesion noting that the individual aspiration for leadership by any person should not put the lives of Kenyans at risk.
