• Raila met members of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops in Nairobi where he said they had fruitful talks on the state of political affairs in the country.
• The senator, however, accused the men of cloth of being agents of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition.
Image: FILE
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei has lashed out at the clergy and labelled them political brokers after they met Azimio leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday.
Raila met members of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops in Nairobi where he said they had fruitful talks on the state of political affairs in the country.
The senator, however, accused the men of cloth of being agents of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition.
"The clergy should stop political brokerage, they should restrict themselves to spiritual nourishment, gospel spread, baptism, LBTQ issues and moral policing. They should let politics be done by politicians," he said in a statement on Twitter.
Following the meeting, the bishops said talks aimed at averting the escalation of political differences in the country are going on well and urged Kenyans to desist from violence even as they exercise their right to demonstrate.
The men of cloth said they are cognizant of the suffering and challenges Kenyans are currently facing but they should not go overboard in expressing their frustration.
"We have had time to talk and we have also tried to understand how the ordinary Kenyan is suffering and the many challenges but let us not go overboard and injure ourselves," they said.
Raila declined to reveal the contents of the meeting and affirmed that Thursday's mass action is on as earlier planned.
He said they will continue to engage the KCCB and other faith communities towards ensuring that the country gets back on track and urged his supporters to refrain from violent protests on Thursday.
"I also urge those who are planning to try and disrupt them to desist from doing so," he said.
Raila has called for twin weekly protests on Mondays and Thursdays to mount pressure on the Kenya Kwanza government to address his demands.
He accuses President William Ruto of having rigged the August polls and has demanded that IEBC servers be opened for clarity on the claims.
Raila has also demanded that the process of reconstituting the IEBC be stopped and started afresh, claiming that Ruto wants to impose his insiders in the commission.
He also wants the head of State to provide tangible evidence of his intention to lower the cost of living and respect the rule of law by stopping what he says is the "creation of unnecessary and unconstitutional offices in the public service to reward his cronies."
Ruto has admitted that Kenya is indeed facing a crisis of high cost of living but Azimio has taken advantage of the situation to dispute election results six months after the polls.
“The riots in Nairobi are not so much about the cost of living, it is so much about some election results which is actually a settled matter, but of course, because the cost of living is a pregnant issue, is an emotive issue, our competitors are trying to take advantage of it but I think the people of Kenya are a lot wiser," Ruto said.
He spoke on Tuesday during an interview with DW in Berlin, Germany.