The Mombasa Catholic Archbishop Martin Kivuva has called on Kenyans to support the church in its nationwide campaign to fight corruption.
The Archbishop said the Catholic Church has recently declared a six month anti-corruption campaign under the theme ‘breaking the chains of corruption’ which he said should be supported by all.
He said in the campaign, Catholic bishops also want to discourage big cash contributions during church fundraising events and restore sanity.
The man of God noted that corruption was at the heart of the problems bedeviling the country over the decades and that it was time for action saying they were ready to help the government in fighting the vice.
He was speaking on Sunday at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church Shanzu Parish when he presided over a mass wedding ceremony and sacrament of confirmation for 97 young Catholics.
“The Church is an important stakeholder and has a critical role to play in checking grand corruption within the society,” said archbishop Kivuva when he addressed journalists.
He went on “it is because of the ills of corruption that for example public hospitals lack drugs and there are no adequate teachers in public schools.”
Archbishop Kivuva said the anti-corruption crusade would be the church’s contribution to the fight against graft.
He said corruption now permeated all sectors of the economy threatening the collapse of the nation and asked the Judiciary to ‘put its act together and expedite graft cases’.
“We want all leaders in the national and county governments to shun corruption for the fight to succeed,” he said adding that the social vice was eating away the fabric of the society.
The cleric observed that there was a general breakdown in morality among Kenyans that was to blame for the runaway corruption that has become a major blot on the country’s reputation.
By Hussein Abdullahi
