Impeachment not a priority, religious leaders tell MPs

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua arrives to defend himself against the accusations against him in the Impeachment Motion at the National Assembly, Parliament, Nairobi. October 8th,2024 [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Religious leaders have urged legislators to drop the impeachment motion against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. 

The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), the Catholic Church and Muslims have expressed concern that the debate was diverting the attention from issues “killing the nation”. 

The clerics accused the lawmakers of ignoring the voters as they shift focus on their own “selfish interests.”

“We indeed wish that all MPs exercise similar energy and resources on matters that are priority to the lives of Kenyans,” said NCCK Nairobi region chairperson, Alphonse Kanga. 

Parliament has been accused of abandoning the duties for which they were elected to achieve personal political interests, which do not benefit wananchi.

The clergy also criticised the planned takeover of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by Adani Holdings Ltd, saying the deal was a “gross irresponsibility by government officials.” 

“What is it that the Kenya Airports Authority is not able to do that the foreigners will do? Were the approvals informed by the genuine need or driven by corruption?” said Simon Muiruri, the chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops, Nairobi region. 

Salim Ibrahim of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims alleged that the newly launched Social Health Authority (SHA) medical scheme is marred with fraud and would not address the challenges facing the healthcare system. 

“We call upon SHA to revert to NHIF so as to facilitate a seamless transition to Social Health Insurance Fund. The SHA should change focus from the funds to be deducted from the citizens and instead concentrate on ensuring service delivery to the people,” he stated. 

The religious leaders further challenged the Ministry of Education to ensure that no university and college student was denied education due to the inadequacies of the new funding model. 

“What was so wrong with the previous model that it had to be changed abruptly and without adequate public participation?” said Kanga. They appealed to Kenyans to “actively increase the pressure in demanding for good governance and accountability from all political leaders”.