The Church and Clergy Association of Kenya (CCAK) has appealed to President Dr. William Ruto to invite Opposition leader Raila Odinga for dialogue to end the political stalemate in the country following the ongoing demonstrations.
Speaking at a press conference in Meru town, CCAK National Chairman Bishop Hudson Ndeda said the President is the father of the entire nation including those who did not vote for him and he should therefore ensure that they were all united.
“We are appealing to the President to consider finding a way where we can have talks with the opposition because going by the way things are at the moment, we are losing lives, and businesses, and if this continues, we feel that the country is not heading in the right direction,” said Ndeda.
Ndeda added: “We are making a passionate appeal to you and promising you our support whenever required. There is always a good way of solving issues and we don’t feel what is happening right now is the best thing to do.”
The dialogue, he added, will ensure that things that can be solved through dialogue are addressed in that way and those that require Parliament to be taken there for appropriate action to be taken.
“This should be done so that we can begin to experience progress in the nation and see our beloved country grow,” said Bishop Ndeda.
Bishop Boniface Maingi, a member of CCAK in Meru County called on the President and his Deputy to unite all Kenyans by inviting the opposition leaders for dialogue to close ranks and unite every Kenyan regardless of their political inclination.
He noted that every Kenyan at the moment was affected either directly or indirectly by the ongoing demonstrations led by the opposition.
At the same time, Ndeda noted that the moratorium to register new churches was lifted in June last year but there is no registration that has been taking place at the Attorney General’s office.
“After the moratorium was lifted, we expected that the government would begin to register churches but unfortunately there are about 1000 applications made by pastors since last year but the Attorney General’s office has not been registering them,” Ndeda said.
“We want to appeal to the AG’s office to start registering churches and also come out and tell us the number of churches he has registered since last June because from our side we have not seen churches being registered,” he said.
By Dickson Mwiti
