Kenyan Church Leaders' Mixed Reaction to Kibaki Cabinet Sackings

|TOP|Church leaders in Kenya have been voicing mixed opinions in response to the decision by the country’s President Mwaki Kibaki to sack his Cabinet following a humiliating defeat in the Kenyan constitutional referendum earlier in the week.

Former assistant minister, Reuben Chesire, welcomed the dissolution of the Cabinet, saying it afforded the President the opportunity to reform a Cabinet he could work with comfortably.

Mr Chesire added that Kibaki should only reinstate ministers known to uphold the collective responsibility of the Government and leave out those who have been disloyal to him.

Bishop Simon Oketch of the Maseno North Diocese of the Anglican Church of Kenya, however, criticised the move, saying that President Kibaki had simply acted out of anger after suffering defeat in the referendum.

|AD|Bishop Thomas Kogo of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Eldorat Diocese, warned the President not to use the sackings as an opportunity to leave out Orange ministers in the formation of his new Cabinet.

“We expect ministers who have been linked to corruption to be left out and not Orange ministers because they had their democratic right to choose which side to support in the referendum,” said Kogo.

The referendum on the Kibaki-backed draft constitution was an easy win for opponents with 57 per cent of the 6 million votes cast.

The “No” camp, or Orange team, who vowed to continue pushing for a new charter to replace the existing constitution drafted in the colonial era, opposed the Kibaki draft arguing that it centred too much power on the President.

Members of the “No” team, which includes the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from Kibaki’s ruling National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), has invited the “Yes” side to join in drafting a new constitution to be put to the Kenyan people at a later date.