Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) clergy have encouraged Kenya’s youth anti-government demonstrators to immediately call off their demonstrations so that President William Ruto has time to address their concerns.
The clergy, led by ACK Archbishop Joseph Ole Sapit, applauded the demonstrators and emphasized the cascading impact their cause had on the Kenya Kwanza administration, which resulted in the dismissal of the Cabinet and the subsequent appointment of former Police Inspector General Japhet Koome.
However, the Archbishop made clear that Ruto needs more time to address the other issues brought up during the demonstrations.
“We appeal to protesters to suspend protests and give the government time to attend to the raft of demands, some of which the President has begun to address including firing most of his Cabinet Secretaries, signing of the IEBC Amendment Bill 2024 into law and the resignation of the IG of Police among others. Please desist from actions that will jeopardise the very future that we are all fighting for. We as a church will monitor and report any progress that is made and also demand that whatever has been committed should be implemented,” said Ole Sapit at the All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi.
Ole Sapit also urged Ruto to act quickly and carry out the other demands made by the public, which include, among other things, freezing the local and foreign accounts of all corruption suspects, cutting back on government spending and the wage bill, shrinking the size of the government, and giving priority to essential services.
“In view of these measures the government must come up with, in the next one week, an implementation matrix of these demands and make it available for public scrutiny and monitoring. There is much talk about creating employment for the youth, let this be backed by a genuine action. We demand that the government must stop further imposition of taxes and levies especially the recently introduced housing levy and the unjust increased fuel levy must be withdrawn. Taxpaying Kenyans do not see value for the money of these schemes,” he said.
Ole Sapit also encouraged Ruto to drop the present university funding scheme, claiming it has prevented many worthy and underprivileged students from accessing higher education.
He also begged Ruto to make sure that the people he nominates for the Cabinet in the future are honorable and worthy.
