Kakamega clergy call for peace, ask losers to accept poll results

Members of the clergy in Kakamega county have called on Kenyans to maintain peace and be tolerant towards opponents during and after Tuesday's elections.

Under the umbrella of Kakamega Pastors Association led by the chairman Bishop Patrick Mwanjilwa, the men of cloth asked politicians to desist from name calling and hurling abuses at each other saying this could incite the public into violence.

"We ask Kenyans to continue loving each other because after elections we’ll remain to be neighbours as we always have been. More so, the word of God commands us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.” Bishop Mwanjilwa said.

He said every competition has winners and a losers and asked candidates and their supporters to accept the results after the elections and direct any complaints to the dispute resolution agencies spelled out in the Constitution.

"Let our leaders know that we are all winners only that some will get more votes than others and therefore no need for any chaos after announcement of the results," the bishop said.

"So far we thank God for the peace we have enjoyed up to this time and it will be good for us to maintain this peace as we embark on building this nation after the elections," he added.

The clergy spoke at the Cornerstone Church in Shibuli, Kakamega during a prayer meeting held by the Lurambi Member of Parliament Bishop Titus Khamala.

The Western regional chairman of Federation of Evangelical Indigenous Churches of Kenya Apostle Charles Omuroka called on all churches not to relent in praying for peace to avert a situation like one witnessed in 2017 where lives were lost.

"Life will continue after the 9th of August, we want to see this country’s economy grow to greater levels but violence and chaos hurts that economy of any country.

"I’m asking our presidential candidates to accept the results after the elections and allow Kenyans to go ahead and continue building the nation," Omuroka said.

MP Khamala said Kenya is greater than all the candidates and asked the youth not to be used to cause chaos in the country.

“We also want investors to have confidence in this country and not a situation where they have to leave the country every election year. We can achieve this is we maintain peace during our elections,” Khamala said.