Kenyan evangelical leaders: “We have a responsibility of pastoring for peaceful elections”

Aug 7, 2022 by Jill

by Jonatán Soriano , Evangelical Focus:

In the face of elections that may turn violent, the Evangelical Alliance says that “the church is a key agent in promoting the holistic development of society”.

The general elections in Kenya will take place on 9 August.

Kenyan elections have always been surrounded by the threat of violence since at least 1,200 people were killed and 600,000 displaced during the 2007 general elections.

“These elections are going to be extremely competitive”, the Secretary General of the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK), Nelson Makanda, told Spanish news website Protestante Digital.

The polls support Makanda. There is a close tie between the candidacy of Raila Odinga, son of the country’s first deputy president and supported by former president Uhuru Kenyatta, and that of William Ruto, the current deputy president.

While Odinga is said to have 47% of the vote, Ruto has over 44%.

In this campaign, most Christian denominations in Kenya agreed months ago to ban the use of their churches for election rallies, except for the Methodists.

The measure, which was also approved by the EAK, was presented as a first step to ensure peaceful elections. However, Makanda explains, over the months “the political environment has become volatile and this has ripple effects on the country’s economy”.

Although the country has not experienced skyrocketing inflation as others have, data from the Central Bank of Kenya does show a 1% increase between July 2021 and the current month.

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