Stop Politicking and Build Our Counties Press Statement
Stop Politicking and Build Our Counties
Press Statement
Preamble
The Regional Conference of the NCCK Coast Region is meeting here at Jumuia Beach Resort, Kanamai, from 4th to 5th June 2015 under the theme Shinning the Light of Christ (Matthew 5: 14 – 16). The Regional Conference is the supreme governance organ in the region and meets once every three years. More than one hundred and thirty delegates from the Member Churches of the NCCK are participating in this Conference.
During this Conference, we are considering matters of concern to the counties under our region, which are Mombasa, Kilifi, Tana River, Lamu, Taita Taveta and Kwale. We drew lessons from a study of 2 Chronicles 15: 1 – 10, and especially took note of verses 5 – 8:
“In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. One nation was being crushed by another and one city by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the portico of the Lord’s temple.”
This Conference notes that in Kenya the Coast Region has suffered the most due to terrorism and insecurity. Cohesion between ethnic and religious communities has been greatly strained, and the government seems unable to resolve the problem even though it bears the constitutional mandate to do so. We therefore wish to share the following message with the residents of Coast Region and the entire nation.
1. Address the Real Terrorism
This Regional Conference laments that over the years, a real religious war has been waged in this region but has always been baptized terrorism or other names. Many Christians and especially preachers have been killed, injured or maimed in violent attacks for no reason other than that they are Christians. It is clear to us that the primary intention of all these attacks is to suppress the right to religious freedom of Christians while upholding other religions. This must come to an end!
In this regard, this Regional Conference wishes to say the following:
a) Cease Suppression of Christian Practices
This Regional Conference celebrates and appreciates the efforts made by national and county governments in response to past terrorist attacks. However, we are concerned that these efforts are being used to suppress the enjoyment of religious freedom by Christians. In most of our counties, churches have been stopped from holding overnight or early morning prayers and cannot even conduct open air preaching rallies, yet these are core practices in Christianity. What is more worrying for us is that the adherents of other religions are allowed to conduct these same activities. Why is there discrimination? We call upon the national and county governments to cease this discriminative practice and allow Christians to practice their religion in peace and safety.
b) Profile hate message preachers and prosecute them
This Regional Conference challenges the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to stop wasting public resources and take visible action against men and women who use religious forums to preach hatred against adherents of different religions. The NCIC must stop pretending that hate speech is only when one speaks against another tribe. We demand that action must be taken against such preachers since they are known.
c) Take ruthless action against all attacks cum terrorists
This Regional Conference wishes to remind the national government the words of the Bible recorded in Romans 13: 3 – 4, which reads: “For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer”
Whereas we thank the police for providing security to churches, we wish to ask the government to take visible action against the persons who have perpetuated the attacks on Christians or else others will continue to be recruited unhindered.
d) Take action against terror supporters and financiers
This Regional Conference recalls that after the Garissa University attack two months ago, it emerged that there are community, political and religious leaders who support and finance terrorism. We call upon His Excellency the President, as the Commander in Chief, to take decisive and conclusive action against all such persons. It must be made clear that no one can be allowed to joke with the security of Kenyans, especially those who are only interested in fomenting a religious war in this country. May His Excellency the President always remember the words of Ecclesiastes 8: 11 – “When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filed with schemes to do wrong”.
3. Address Human-Wildlife Conflict
This Regional Conference is concerned that there are increasing cases of wildlife invading farms and homes in various parts of this region. Even when these invasions happen, the Kenya Wildlife Service officers are more adept at shooting the people than on driving the animals back into the national park. We urge the national and county governments to cooperate and ensure fences are erected to forestall further invasions.
4. Reverse the Grabbing of Church Schools
This Regional Conference is greatly shocked at the blatant grabbing of church schools by the government through the Basic Education Act 2013. It is very worrying that the government has embarked on a process of declaring church sponsored schools as public institutions and issuing Title Deeds to the education boards. An example is that two schools in this region that were started by NCCK have already been taken over without regard to ownership. This is blatant robbery since it is the churches that established and run the schools. We call upon the national government to reverse this process and facilitate a review of the Basic Education Act so as to restore the schools to the rightful owners.
Further, we challenge the recent calls for scraping of religious education from the school curriculum. We are convinced that the religious education should actually be expanded so as to inculcate values in the learners as a remedy to the social problems we are currently experiencing.
6. Protect Marriage and Family Life
This Regional Conference rejects and condemns the ruling by the High Court that Gay and Lesbian organisations can be registered. This blanket legalization of unnatural, immoral and sinful behavior is what we warned would happen when we asked Kenyans to first amend the Constitution before passing it in the referendum in 2010. We assure the Kenya Christians Professionals Forum and the Attorney General of our prayers and support as they appeal the ruling seeking to reverse it so as to safeguard our marriages and family life.
Further, we call upon the Attorney General to reverse the regulations developed in light of the Marriage Act 2014 which have made conducting weddings a very expensive and tedious affair. Establishing marriage should be made as easy as possible, not more difficult.
On our part, we have committed ourselves to initiate and enhance Family Life Education Prorgrammes so as to fulfil Malachi 2: 15 which says that God is seeking a godly offspring. We will especially build on discipleship programmes targeting men and children in our churches and communities.
Further, we call upon our congregants and other community members to stop the growing trend of playing loud music at night when they go to console those who are bereaved. This practice is negatively affecting morals in the community and actually disturbs rather than consoling those that we love.
Conclusion
As we conclude, we wish to remind all that the denial of freedom and security is an affront on the constitution of Kenya. Every feasible action must be taken to ensure the security and safety of every Kenyan, and every lawbreaker must be punished speedily and adequately. Let us all work to ensure that the words of our National Anthem are fulfilled:
O God of all Creation
Bless this our land and nation
Justice be our shield and defender
May we dwell in unity
Peace and liberty
Plenty be found within our borders
Signed on this 5th June 2015 at Jumuia Beach Resort, Kanamai.
Bishop Michael Simba
Regional Chairman, NCCK Coast Region
