Kenya’s Bishops Urge President to Restart Constitution Process

Kenya’s Anglican and Catholic Churches have joined in urging President Mwai Kibaki to resume the constitution-making process as soon as possible, reports AllAfrica.

|TOP|Bishop Otieno Wasonga of Maseno West Diocese and Machakos Catholic Bishop Martin Kivuva said Kibaki should end the Constitution stalemate by engaging in honest dialogue.

Bishop Wasonga called on the President to recall Parliament in order to legislate a legal framework that would involve all Kenyans in the formulating of the country’s new Constitution.

He warned citizens of Kenya, however, not to allow politicians to assume the authority themselves of making a Constitution.

“The authority of making a Constitution belongs to all Kenyans and all of us must participate in designing the process and not politicians,” said Bishop Wasonga.

Wasonga made the comments during an annual thanksgiving service in Siaya on Sunday, also attended by Kisumu Town West MP Ken Nyagudi.

|QUOTE|He advised Kenyans to devise a Constitution that would foster economic development and good governance with proper checks and balances, adding that the document should be delivered before next year's General Election.

Wasonga also called on Christians to pray for all the politicians involved in formulating the new Constitution, including clergy, to be honest, before going on to criticise the Kenyan Government for condoning corruption by protecting politically correct individuals he said were involved in the vice.

Bishop Kivuva, meanwhile, urged warring factions in the ruling coalition to make peace, adding that the country had spent a lot of time to-ing and fro-ing and wasted billions on constitution review.

“Kenyans want a new Constitution, which can only be achieved through dialogue among leaders,” he said.

Kivuva further urged the President to consult with the church over the development of the new Constitution. He also advised Kibaki to stand up to a ring of advisors attempting to bar him from meeting with opponents.

“It is wrong for any minister to block other leaders from seeing the President," said Kivuva, adding that individuals with a vested interest to be kept out of the constitution-developing process.