Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has faulted the clergy for taking a partisan stand even as it offers to play a mediator role between Azimio and the Kenya Kwanza government.
Sifuna on Thursday took issue with calls by the Clergy for Azimio to suspend its weekly protests and give dialogue a chance while it made no demands to the government.
"Any serious “mediator” between two parties in a conflict would not start by asking one Party to do or stop doing something without placing a similar demand on the other Party. The Catholic Bishops got it wrong. The Imams too. Now the NCCK have fallen into the same trap," Sifuna said in a tweet.
Religious leaders on Wednesday continued to mount pressure on President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga to embrace dialogue for the sake of peace in the country.
The Kenya conference of catholic bishops led by their chairperson Martin Kivuva said the blame games by two factions only serve to worsen the difficult situations Kenyans find themselves in today.
"There cannot be a good reason to resort to the standoff and defiance of our leaders to the detriment of Kenyans," Kivuva said.
On Wednesday, Muslim leaders also urged Raila to suspend the protests as Ramadhan begins.
Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims chairman Coast region Muhdhar Khatarmy Sharif said the planned protests will disrupt the existing peace and further affect the economy.
"The solution must be found to fix this situation, instead of hurting people during the process," the leaders stated.
The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) made similar calls on March 14.
"The situation cannot hold for long, there is a need for immediate action to rescue the nation from further deterioration," they said in a statement.
Raila on Thursday responded to the growing calls from the men of cloth for him to call off the demos saying he is not interested in dialogue, he wants justice.
"Our answer to the clergy is in the gospel, I want to quote John 8:32 - Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free," he said.
The Azimio leader said the justice he is seeking via the street protests includes tangible evidence that the government is committed to lowering the cost of living and opening IEBC servers for forensic analysis to determine who won the August polls.
