Embrace Dialogue for Effective Leadership -Press Statement
Preamble
The Regional Conference of the NCCK Lower Eastern Region is meeting here at ABC Bomani, Machakos, from9th to 11th June 2015 under the theme Shining 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 100 delegates from the Membership of the NCCK participated in this Conference where we considered matters of concern to the nation and specifically to our counties, which are Machakos, Makueni, Kitui and Kajiado. During our deliberations, we considered the word of God recorded in Acts 20: 33 – 35:
“I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’.”
We considered these words in the context of leadership, and wish to share the following message with the residents of Lower Eastern region and the entire nation:
1. Embrace Dialogue in Makueni
This Regional Conference is greatly saddened by what has transpired in Makueni County over the last three years. The county government has failed to perform its mandate, thereby hindering development and service delivery to the people. We are therefore deeply concerned that the political leadership in Makueni County is setting a very negative precedent for future generations by failing to embrace dialogue and reconciliation. Shall we be surprised in future when the youth and children adopt hardline positions and turn violent every time they have a disagreement? Shall we have the moral authority to teach them the path of dialogue and peace?
It is not lost to us that in the past, religious leaders in the county have made efforts to bring the political leaders together but they failed to show up. We wish to remind HE the Governor and all the other leaders the word of God recorded in Isaiah 1: 18 – “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord”. If God the Almighty creator calls people to dialogue with Him, who are we to say we cannot dialogue and reconcile with each other?
Appreciating this, this Regional Conference opposes the proposed dissolution of the county government and instead calls upon the leaders in the county to embrace dialogue and reconciliation.
2. Ensure Justice in Mui Basin Coal Extraction
This Regional Conference wishes to thank God for the mineral deposits found within our region, and especially for the anticipated commencement of coal extraction in Mui Basin of Kitui County. We are however concerned that a great injustice is being done on the residents of this region and the entire country since the project up to this point has been handled with extreme secrecy. So bad is the situation that the people are not aware of when the work is to begin, where those displaced by the mines are to be resettled, or what they are to paid in compensation. We are also concerned that there are very many brokers who are giving confusing and disjointed information to the people as they seek to defraud them.
This Regional Conference therefore requests His Excellency the President to take personal interest in this matter and especially consider the following:
a) Instruct the Ministry of Lands to work with the National Land Commission to demarcate the land in Kitui so that every family knows what they own and the borders of their possessions
b) Instruct the Ministry of Mining to make public all information concerning the coal mining project so that the public can participate and adequately support the project
c) Instruct the necessary government agencies to chase away all the brokers who are currently operating in the Mui Basin area and defrauding people and increasing the confusion among the people
d) Instruct the necessary government agencies to inform the public how much compensation is to be provided to the residents who will be displaced by the mining activities, and to say how much is to be given for all the items that qualify for compensation
e) Instruct the Ministry of Lands to give guidance on where and how the displaced families are to be resettled
In addition, we challenge the county government of Kitui to actively engage in this process so as to safeguard the interests of all the residents.
3. Keep Girls in School
This Regional Conference calls upon the residents in our region and especially Kajiado County to accept to review traditions and practices so as to stop marrying off their daughters before they complete secondary school. It is to the benefit of the family and the entire community when the girls are well educated and productive in their lives. Recognizably, this practice will be resolved by a change of heart among community members, and not by enforcement by security agencies. We therefore urge our fellow clergy and community leaders to undertake regular campaigns to promote completion of school by girls.
4. Provide Security For All
This Regional Conference expresses concern that in the recent months, a state of insecurity has gripped our region. Violent robberies are the order of the day, yet the perpetrators have not been arrested or prosecuted. The insecurity has now grown to the point where children are unable to attend school due to fear and threats. This situation must not be allowed to continue.
In this regard, we urge His Excellency the President to reorganize the security machinery in this region to ensure that the officers provide adequate security to all persons. The security officers should not behave as though they are completely ignorant of the factors behind the high levels of insecurity which are public knowledge such as transporting weapons in lorries that carry charcoal.
On their part, we urge the governors in our counties to work closely with the national government to ensure that people can live in safety. We appreciate that county government officials are always in close contact with the people and therefore can provide essential security information to the relevant security agencies.
This Regional Conference takes this opportunity to send condolences to all families who lost their loved ones during the terrorist attack at Garissa University in April. We especially commend all Christians for resisting the provocation to engage in a religious war, and urge that we continue exercising restraint.
We further call upon the National Cohesion and Integration Commission to investigate and take action against all the political leaders who are inciting residents with regard to the boundary between Makueni and Kajiado counties. This Regional Conference urges the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission to clearly indicate where the boundary lies so as to forestall the outbreak of violence.
5. 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. 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.
In addition, this Regional Conference is perturbed by the efforts by the Ministry of Education and some international organisations to corrupt the morals of school children through the introduction of the so-called comprehensive sex education. We condemn these efforts and demand the process stops forthwith.
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. It is our prayer that the appeals lodged by the Kenya Christians Professionals Forum and the Attorney General shall succeed in securing a reversal of this ruling.
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.
Conclusion
As we conclude, we wish to urge the members of our communities and our leaders to constantly work for what is best for all people. We especially call upon all leaders in our region to put aside their political differences and address the matters of insecurity and come up with viable solutions. This is a priority of our people in this region, knowing that no peace no development.
May God bless Kenya now and forever more.
Signed on this 11th day of June 2015 at ABC Bomani, Machakos.
Captain Joseph Muindi
Regional Chairman, NCCK Lower Eastern Region
