CISA NEWS REPORT:
NAIROBI, September 11, 2012 (CISA) -Two National Christian bodies have today, September 11 urged the Government to ensure that security is beefed up in the country’s Tana River District, where on Sunday, September 10, 38 people including nine policemen were killed.
Local media here described the killing as a result of revenge attack from a local community that had been attacked by another one in the locality.
The Sunday, September 10 attack brought to 111 the number of people, who have so far died following the two attacks between the Pokomo and Orma communities.
In their joint statement, the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) and the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK) said, “As part of the Christian community in Kenya, we are greatly perturbed by the developing scenario in which Kenyans are being killed and property and livestock destroyed with blatant impunity,”
“Our Grand Coalition government is the only government we have entrusted with both the safeguarding of the constitution and the people of Kenya regardless of their tribe, clan, race, religion and social or economic status,” stressed the Church statement, entitled: Government, Be Government and signed jointly by NCCK General Secretary, Rev Canon Peter Karanja and EAK General Secretary, Rev Dr Willy Mutiso.
“As we have said before, it is not enough for government to issue hard hitting statements after the damage is done,” emphasized the two Christian bodies.
Kenyans want to see the Executive arm of the government taking all actions necessary to pre-empt, punish and restrain all forces of evil from causing havoc and tragedy and destroying our socio-political fabric, stressed the NCCK/EAK statement.
“It is indeed incomprehensible to us that more than a hundred Kenyans have been killed in Tana River County over the last three weeks yet the government seems either incapable of or un-committed to restoring sanity,” the NCCK/EAK statement further said.
As the custodian of security and safety of Kenyans, we call upon the government to ensure that it provided humanitarian relief to all the affected community members regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, and deploy adequate and well equipped security agents on the ground to protect all the community members without discrimination.
The two Christian bodies also called on the Government to arrest and prosecute the masterminds of the violence from both sides to ensure that no further mobilization of communities for violence takes place and also facilitate intra and inter-community mediation with a view to correcting erroneous community narratives that presume anyone can further their interests by harming and destroying their perceived enemies.
The Christian bodies also called on the Government to address the underlying causes of the violence, top among these being the boundary between Tana River and Garissa Counties, and sort out the water problem at the heart of the crisis by assuring pastoralists of access to the river for their livestock.
“We remind the President and Prime Minister that they have a sworn duty to ensure the security of all Kenyans and the residents of Tana River should neither be allowed to butcher one another nor remain vulnerable to criminal activities as they wait for government action and protection,” they said.
If the conflict is left to fester, it will create a bad model to other regions and locations in the country where there are underlying and unresolved issues that taking the law into one’s own hands and unleashing violence and terror on one’s protagonists is a viable option, reminded the statement.
It added that as a the country is headed to the general elections next year, allowing lawlessness to reign in any part of Kenya is to take a great risk of violence around the elections period.
“On their part, we urge all the residents of Tana River County to cease the violence and to remember the words recorded in Genesis 9: 6: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. Violence will only breed more violence. It is not a solution to the problems you have”, observed the NCCK/EAK statement.
Meanwhile the International Center for Policy and Conflict (ICPC) has expresses grave concern on the deteriorating security situation in Tana River. It has said this is a primary duty and responsibility of the government to protect citizens and that this responsibility entails the prevention of occurrence of crimes, including their incitement, through appropriate and necessary means.
“It is worrisome that the country is facing a surge of violence and lawlessness that has shattered the lives of thousands of Kenya in Tana River and neighboring areas just a few months to the momentous and definitive general elections. There is absolutely no convincing action that government of Kenya has taken to deter further bloodletting.
“We want to remind government of Kenya that whenever a state is unable to protect the human rights of its citizens, or indeed are actively involved in violating those rights on a significant scale, then the world community’ has a responsibility to step in and ensure that these rights are protected,” said Ndung’u Wainaina Executive Director, ICPC.
SHARED FROM CISA NEWS
NAIROBI, September 11, 2012 (CISA) -Two National Christian bodies have today, September 11 urged the Government to ensure that security is beefed up in the country’s Tana River District, where on Sunday, September 10, 38 people including nine policemen were killed.
Local media here described the killing as a result of revenge attack from a local community that had been attacked by another one in the locality.
The Sunday, September 10 attack brought to 111 the number of people, who have so far died following the two attacks between the Pokomo and Orma communities.
In their joint statement, the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) and the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK) said, “As part of the Christian community in Kenya, we are greatly perturbed by the developing scenario in which Kenyans are being killed and property and livestock destroyed with blatant impunity,”
“Our Grand Coalition government is the only government we have entrusted with both the safeguarding of the constitution and the people of Kenya regardless of their tribe, clan, race, religion and social or economic status,” stressed the Church statement, entitled: Government, Be Government and signed jointly by NCCK General Secretary, Rev Canon Peter Karanja and EAK General Secretary, Rev Dr Willy Mutiso.
“As we have said before, it is not enough for government to issue hard hitting statements after the damage is done,” emphasized the two Christian bodies.
Kenyans want to see the Executive arm of the government taking all actions necessary to pre-empt, punish and restrain all forces of evil from causing havoc and tragedy and destroying our socio-political fabric, stressed the NCCK/EAK statement.
“It is indeed incomprehensible to us that more than a hundred Kenyans have been killed in Tana River County over the last three weeks yet the government seems either incapable of or un-committed to restoring sanity,” the NCCK/EAK statement further said.
As the custodian of security and safety of Kenyans, we call upon the government to ensure that it provided humanitarian relief to all the affected community members regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, and deploy adequate and well equipped security agents on the ground to protect all the community members without discrimination.
The two Christian bodies also called on the Government to arrest and prosecute the masterminds of the violence from both sides to ensure that no further mobilization of communities for violence takes place and also facilitate intra and inter-community mediation with a view to correcting erroneous community narratives that presume anyone can further their interests by harming and destroying their perceived enemies.
The Christian bodies also called on the Government to address the underlying causes of the violence, top among these being the boundary between Tana River and Garissa Counties, and sort out the water problem at the heart of the crisis by assuring pastoralists of access to the river for their livestock.
“We remind the President and Prime Minister that they have a sworn duty to ensure the security of all Kenyans and the residents of Tana River should neither be allowed to butcher one another nor remain vulnerable to criminal activities as they wait for government action and protection,” they said.
If the conflict is left to fester, it will create a bad model to other regions and locations in the country where there are underlying and unresolved issues that taking the law into one’s own hands and unleashing violence and terror on one’s protagonists is a viable option, reminded the statement.
It added that as a the country is headed to the general elections next year, allowing lawlessness to reign in any part of Kenya is to take a great risk of violence around the elections period.
“On their part, we urge all the residents of Tana River County to cease the violence and to remember the words recorded in Genesis 9: 6: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. Violence will only breed more violence. It is not a solution to the problems you have”, observed the NCCK/EAK statement.
Meanwhile the International Center for Policy and Conflict (ICPC) has expresses grave concern on the deteriorating security situation in Tana River. It has said this is a primary duty and responsibility of the government to protect citizens and that this responsibility entails the prevention of occurrence of crimes, including their incitement, through appropriate and necessary means.
“It is worrisome that the country is facing a surge of violence and lawlessness that has shattered the lives of thousands of Kenya in Tana River and neighboring areas just a few months to the momentous and definitive general elections. There is absolutely no convincing action that government of Kenya has taken to deter further bloodletting.
“We want to remind government of Kenya that whenever a state is unable to protect the human rights of its citizens, or indeed are actively involved in violating those rights on a significant scale, then the world community’ has a responsibility to step in and ensure that these rights are protected,” said Ndung’u Wainaina Executive Director, ICPC.
SHARED FROM CISA NEWS
Comments