The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) has urged the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to urgently put in place measures to safeguard peace ahead of the 2027 General Elections.
During a consultative meeting between the two organisations, the NCCK warned against downplaying the potential threat of having incumbency elections where a sitting President is seeking re-election. “Traditionally, incumbency elections have been marked by intense polarization, heavy electioneering, and violence before, during and after the polls, as was the case in 1992, 1997, 2007 and 2017”, Rev Canon Chris Kinyanjui, General Secretary of NCCK, pointed out. “If this trend holds, then we can expect the 2027 elections to potentially be brutally violent”, he added.
The NCCK urged the NCIC Â to establish a hate-speech and incitement monitoring and rapid response mechanism that will gather data and facilitate prosecution of offenders from all political parties.
Further, the NCCK recommended that the NCIC works with community level peace committees to enable them identify financiers of goons and have them prosecuted.
The Chairman of the NCIC, Bishop Dr Kepha Omae, commended the role that NCCK plays in the life of the nation, and proposed that there be structured engagements.
“We would like to partner with you in the different peace and cohesion initiatives including the Uwiano and the Amani Conference”, Bishop Omae affirmed, and guided that a Memorandum of Understanding be signed between the NCCK and NCIC.
Bishop Omae and the other Commissioners welcomed the proposals by NCCK, which they said are in line with the Commission’s aspirations and mandate.
The NCCK delegation was led by the Chairman, Rev Dr Elias Otieno Agola and Canon Chris.
They challenged the Commissioners to “present NCIC as a visibly independent and even-handed enforcer” by publishing clear election-cycle cohesion protocols.
The NCIC committed to launch a Peace Pledge during the upcoming Amani Conference and have political leaders sign onto it.
