Kenya: kenyatta urges kenyans to pray ahead of the national polls

Kenya’s President Uhuru kenyatta has called on citizens to dedicate their first week in the month of march and pray for the peace and stability of the country stating that development can only be achieved in a peaceful environment.

“I call upon all Kenyans for one week in the month of March beginning Monday, March 6 to pray for the peace of our beloved nation,” he said.

“I urge Muslims to congregate in their Mosques on Friday 10 and Christians in their Churches on Saturday and Sunday 11 and 12 March respectively to pray for our nation. The future of our nation is in the hands of each and every one of us,” Kenyatta added.

Speaking at the launch of this year’s Lent Campaign being spearheaded by the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) through the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC), the President said political leaders ought to preach peace and desist from making remarks that are likely to stir violence in the country.

The Country’s Commission for Ecumenism Chairperson Bishop Alfred Korir has also called on politicians in the east African nation to promote a culture of non-violence to save the country from political tension during and after the elections.

According to him, inculcating the culture of non-violence remained a major task for the country’s leadership, with its absence costing the nation dearly in the past where contested polls led to bloodletting and loss of property.

kenya’s opposition leader Ralia Odinga had on Wednesday in the capital Nairobi while addressing striking doctors said mass protests were possible if August elections were rigged.

His comments are likely to scare fearful Kenyans of a repeat of the widespread violence that erupted after a disputed poll in 2007.

We must all together ensure the culture of mature and principled leadership prevails to secure peaceful elections – President Kenyatta. pic.twitter.com/S85nJjtEyp

— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) February 25, 2017

More than 1,200 people were killed in weeks of fighting after political protests turned into ethnic clashes in the period, but 2013 polls, when Odinga accepted the result after a court ruling, passed relatively peacefully.