The Head of Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit has challenged religious institutions to invest in ventures that can complement realisation of government’s development agenda.
Ole Sapit singled out the intended 100 percent transition from Primary to post-primary levels and achievement of Universal Health Care (UHC) for Kenyans as areas the institutions should concentrate on improving and developing.
At the same time, the clergyman has called on the Teachers Service Commission, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) to work harmoniously and sort their differences amicably.
He noted that differences of opinion between the key players in the education sector were undermining education standards in the country.
Archbishop Sapit called on Education Cabinet Secretary (CS), Prof. George Magoha to bring the parties to a sustainable and cordial working relationship.
The Anglican Church, the clergyman said, had prioritized construction of schools and upgraded of various health facilities under its sponsorship countrywide as a way of improving access to quality and affordable education and health care services.
Speaking when he officially inaugurated the newly built Saint Luke- Kiamaina Primary School in Nakuru, Ole Sapit called on various investigative arms of the government not to relent on the fight against corruption.
The vice, he noted, had assumed alarming proportions that have led to wastage of resources and therefore threatened the country’s stability and future generations.
He warned against politicising the crack down on graft cartels adding that individuals caught in graft webs should carry their own crosses.
On education, the arch-bishop called on churches, mosques and other religious institutions sponsoring schools to now shift their focus on establishing more secondary schools as remarkable progress had already been achieved in putting up Early Childhood Centres and Primary Schools countrywide.
Ole Sapit said the Anglican Church would continue partnering with the Ministries of Education and Health in complementing services that the state provided across the country.
The ACK, he said, was also equipping, staffing and upgrading its dispensaries and mission hospitals.
The Archbishop urged Kenyans to demand accountability over expenditure of taxpayers’ money at both National and County levels.
He said citizens had a right to protest and raise alarms whenever service delivery was either late or poor.
Ole Sapit warned all political leaders against polarising the country along ethnic and religious lines.
The leaders he said had a responsibility of safeguarding the country and guaranteeing peaceful coexistence for the sake of future generations.
He called on parents not to abdicate the responsibility of bringing up their children, noting that recent acts of violence and lawlessness could be attributed to break down of social moral fabric.
Church elder, George Kagima said the school had been designed to accommodate 500 pupils but had already enrolled the first batch of 300 pupils.
It was the school’s official policy, he stated to enroll pupils across all religious denominations.
Kagima observed that the ACK was committed to providing facilities that will offer quality education and health care to low income earners in the country.
By Jane Ngugi/Dennis Rasto
