A section of the church in Thika has distanced themselves from calls for mass action by the Azimio leadership over the ouster of four Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commissioners saying it would disturb peace needed for development.
The over 300 clerics from the Covenant Clergy Alliance Church said the poor status of the economy does not allow for street protests as it would affect businesses and return the country to the dark days.
Led by controversial Bishop David Ngari Gakuyo, they said the Church cannot afford to go against a legally constituted government adding that the government is at a crawling stage and should be given time before it is condemned.
His sentiments were echoed by Bishop David Njoroge and Rev. Patricia Wanjiku who said the Azimio leadership is bitter because they lost elections.
“We know what street protests can turn out to be and as a church, we don’t support them. There needs to be dialogue between the parties involved to resolve any governance issue amicably,” said Wanjiku.
Gakuyo at the same time announced that he had ditched the Azimio One Kenya Coalition and joined President William Ruto led Kenya Kwanza.
The Bishop, who is one of former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s political allies in the Mt Kenya region said the Azimio leadership had left them in the cold after losing the elections and that there was no need for further association.
Gakuyo, who was a fierce Ruto critic during the run off to the August elections, said President William Ruto’s leadership qualities of standing with leaders who supported him during the elections stood out from those of his predecessor.
“What looked difficult for Uhuru like the appointment of the Court of Appeal Judges, the Fifa ban among others seems so easy to Ruto and that is why I support him,” he said
The hitherto Azimio la Umoja – One Kenya Coalition diehard had even filed a petition at the Supreme Court challenging Ruto’s win, which was quashed away by the court. He had unsuccessfully vied for Thika parliamentary seat on Jubilee Party ticket but lost to UDA’s Alice Ng’ang’a.
“Supporting the former president brought me more trouble in my political and business life. Uhuru’s men coerced me to support Raila at ‘gunpoint’ which I did, but what happened after we lost. I was left in the cold. I did not benefit from that relationship. Instead I suffered threats and intimidations as I served Uhuru and sometimes government operatives would point a gun to me if I waivered to support Ruto,” confessed the Bishop.
