From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: IPS:KENYA: CHURCHES TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE TO EDUCATE THE ELECTORATE
Date: 7 Nov 92 17:39:06 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Commodities
Title: KENYA: CHURCHES TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE TO EDUCATE THE ELECTORATE


an inter press service feature

by andrew zhakata

harare, oct 31 (ips) -- as kenyans prepare for presidential and
general elections, churches have launched an education campaign
''to shake off a voting apathy currently prevailing in the
country''.

in november last year 33 churches, under the umbrella of the
kcc, launched a joint programme to educate the voter about the
electoral process and to ''motivate the voter to vote'', samuel
kobia, general-ecretary of the kenya council of churches (kcc),
told ips here.

kenya's president daniel arap moi, under internal and
international pressure, last year agreed to reintroduce
political pluralism he had abolished in 1982 following an
abortive military coup.

kenya, with a population of 24 million, became independent
from britain in 1963.

this week, moi, a 68-year-old former schoolteacher, prorogued
parliament to make way for the elections which, under the
constitution, should be held before march.

kobia notes that since 1988 kenyans have lost interest to
vote because they suspected moi's ruling kenya african national
union (kanu) had rigged the elections held that year.

in its campaign, the church is holding workshops with the
voters and producing reading materials, says kobia who attended
the sixth general assembly of the all africa conference of
churches (aacc) held here this week.

since january, the church has produced pamphlets entitled
'why you should vote' and 'toward multiparty democracy in
kenya', which explain the whole process of voting from
registration to casting a vote.

''we have distributed more than a million copies of these
pamphlets which have been published in kiswahili, english and
other languages'', adds kobia.

the church in kenya has spearheaded the revival of multiparty
politics in kenya and the respect of human rights, a role which
has antagonised itself with the government.

''the church whose role has always been misunderstood by the
government is not taking sides but (is) assisting voters to
exercise their rights to choose a leader of high integrity who
is credible and accountable to the people'', explains kobia.
(more/ips)


kenya: churches (2)

zablon nthamburi, the presiding bishop of the kenya methodist
church, says kenyans are looking for a leader who can bring
about an economic recovery and deliver the goods.

''kenya's economy is in a shambles (with a foreign debt of
about six billion dollars). the government is riddled with
corruption and what people what now is a new leader who can
breathe new life into the society'', nthamburi told ips.

in the elections, says nthamburi, the church will try to
act as a watchdog to see there is no cheating and rigging. the
churches are training 18,000 people to monitor the elections at
the country's 9,000 polling stations.

pressure is also being put on the government to invite
international observers from the european community, the united
states and church ecumenical organisations around the world,
says kobia.

since he succeeded the first leader of kanu, jomo kenyatta,
who died in 1978, moi has increasingly become autocratic, ruling
kenya with an iron fist, mercilessly crushing any dissenting
voice.

as a result, the subsequent years saw many kanu members
breaking away from the ruling party to agitate for multiparty
democracy.

in the elections kanu will be pitted against the two factions
of forum for the restoration of democracy (ford) -- 'ford asili'
and 'ford kenya' and the the democratic party (dp). the three
parties are led either by former kenya vice-presidents or
leading veteran politicians.

violent incidents, deaths and arrests already mar the road to
the elections, with moi censoring and stifling opposition party
activities.

at a recent kanu meeting in nairobi, the capital, kanu's
vice-president, george saitoti, appealed to kenyans to re-elect
moi ''as he is the only one among the presidential hopefuls who
could offer hope and lasting peace for kenya''.

in an apparent response to saitoti, ford asili's national
organising secretary, ahmed hamahriz, has warned moi the
opposition will take up arms to fight kanu if it wins the
elections.

''what we want are peaceful elections, and reconciliation not
war. people are fed up with violence and want a rest'', says
nthamburi. (end/ips/az/apc/92)