• Mohammed Ramadhan, a Muslim cleric in Busia, urged youth to shun violence.
• Mwangi asked for deliberate and active engagement for all stakeholders to foster peaceful and harmonious co-existence.
Religious leaders in Busia have urged national and county governments to include them in leadership to help solve the challenges of integrity and bad governance.
Speaking at Farm View Hotel during a security stakeholders meeting on election preparedness, they challenged politicians to embrace moral values that shape the community.
Led by Busia National Council of Churches of Kenya chairman Joseph Mwangi, the clerics asked for deliberate and active engagement for all stakeholders to foster peaceful and harmonious co-existence.
“As religious leaders, we are committed to enlightening our congregants on the need to exercise their democratic right to choose the right leaders,” he said.
Mohammed Ramadhan, a Muslim cleric in Busia, urged youth to shun violence.
“No leader should pride himself or herself in division and hatred. We call upon all Busia residents to respect the rights of others and appreciate the fact that politics is about competition, in which case there will be winners and losers,” Ramadhan said.
Elsewhere, a multi-sectorial conference on prevention and countering violent extremism was held at Busia county commissioner’s conference hall.
The conference was organised by Busia county commissioner’s office in collaboration with Champions of Peace organisation.
It brought together stakeholders from national and county governments, security organs, civil society, the Ministry of Education, the business community, youth groups and the media.
Busia assistant county commissioner (1) Julius Marwa stressed on the need for collaboration of different stakeholders to ensure harmony, peace and integration in society.
“This initiative has been cascaded down from the national government to the grassroots level to ensure every citizen is enlightened about his or her role in preventing violent extremism,” Marwa said.
David Okoth, a representative of Champions of Peace, expressed concerns over rising cases of violence, especially during the electioneering period.
He said his organisation is committed to traverse the entire republic of Kenya and engage with various stakeholders at the grassroots to limit cases of violent extremism.
“We are engaging the 10 counties of Western and Nyanza regions to ensure all stakeholders are brought on board to formulate policies and work plans towards the prevention and eradication of acts of violence,” Okoth said.