With less than two weeks left before the August 9 General Election, Voi sub-county Pastors’ Fellowship held a peace conference to advocate for peace and unity during the election period.
The event, attended by a section of aspirants vying for various seats in the region, was held on Thursday at Home Alive Church in Voi.
Over 104 aspirants were expected to attend the conference but only a few turned up.
Those present included gubernatorial aspirant Granton Samboja’s running mate Priscilla Mwangeka, Patience Nyange and Francis Mwaita who are vying for gubernatorial post under NARC Kenya and Safina Party respectively.
Others were Michael Mwadime who is vying for Voi parliamentary seat under Pan African Alliance (PAA) party and Rev. Godfrey Mwanjulu who is eyeing the same seat as an Independent candidate.
Peace ambassadors, human rights defenders, disciplined forces and relevant government agencies also attended the conference.
The clergy urged the local residents and the entire nation at large to maintain peace before, during and after the elections.
Rev. Christopher Obialo chairperson for Voi Sub-County Pastors Fellowship asked politicians to embrace one another and to avoid creating tension over transient political differences.
“Let us maintain peace in our county and in our nation as we approach the general election,” he said.
Residents were also advised to elect leaders who are visionary, development minded and peace loving leaders. The clerics warned the aspirants against inciting their supporters to cause chaos in their opponents’ rallies.
They also asked the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to conduct fair, transparent and verifiable elections while asking candidates to give IEBC space and not interfere with their work.
Aspirants were asked to accept the results by the IEBC and use the right channels provided by the constitution in case of a dispute
“I ask those who will not win the elections to accept the results and know they can always try next time,” Obialo said.
On their part, the aspirants pledged to be peaceful before and after the elections.
Mr. Mwaita, eyeing governor’s seat under Safina Party, said aspirants would preach peace wherever they went. He added that after the elections, they would still be with the community and thereby the need to maintain calm.
“We are all brothers and should strive to remain that way despite elections,” he said.
The prayer meeting comes at a time the campaign events in the region have intensified with several aspirants criss-crossing the county as they hunt for votes.
IEBC has also been engaging various stakeholders including aspirants, security agencies, churches and human rights groups in to have credible elections.
