Kenyan church says ‘no’ to new constitution: The Church of England Newspaper, May 7, 2010 p 8.

Archbishop Eliud Wabukala

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The Anglican Church of Kenya (AKC) has rejected the country’s draft constitution, encouraging its members to vote against ratification in this summer’s nationwide referendum.

The AKC now joins the Catholic Church and the National Council of Churches of Kenya in opposing the revised constitution endorsed by Parliament and the Cabinet of President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

However, the Church will not take an active role in the coming political battle. Clergy and churchgoers may participate in the ‘no’ campaign as individuals, but as an institution, the Church will not fund nor take part in what is expected to be a contentious campaign.

On April 29 the Church’s House of Bishops released a statement following an all-day meeting at All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi. The bishops said the government’s decision to refuse to consider any amendments to the draft had forced the Church to act.

“We therefore say ‘no’ to the proposed constitution as it is unless amendments are effected before the referendum,” the bishops said in a statement read to the press by Archbishop Eliud Wabukala.

The Archbishop said the exemption for Muslims from the Bill of Rights, the institutionalization of Kadhi courts governed by Sharia law with the justice system, and the permissive stance on abortion was unacceptable to the Church.

Archbishop Wabukala urged government leaders to adopt a neutral position on the constitution. It was the view of the Kenyan bishops that the “President and the Prime Minister should not be taking sides for Yes or No but should be spearheading national healing and reconciliation,” he said.

The Archbishop added that the bishops were “appalled by the decision and declaration by the Cabinet that no amendments can and will be made prior to the referendum. The declarations are therefore in our opinion misplaced, unconstitutional and an attempt to dictate on the outcome of the referendum”.

After Parliament endorsed the draft constitution last month, the Catholic Church immediately came out against the bill. However, Archbishop Wabukala said the Anglican Church would hold off taking a formal position until after a church-wide consultation had been held to gauge the views of its members.

Last month the Archbishop stated he was inclined to support the draft, arguing that its offending provisions could be removed by amendments passed by Parliament. However, he stated this was his private view and not the view of the Church.

Former Archbishop David Gitari came out in favour of the draft, the Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation reported. “The draft constitution is democratic and guarantees justice, end of corruption and impunity therefore we cannot be neutral on this matter,” Dr Gitari said, and was better than the current post-independence constitution.

However, former Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi urged rejection of the draft, saying as a matter of conscience he could not support the abortion and Kadhi court clauses. “There is need for truth to prevail in the country in this time when Kenyans are at crossroads over the constitutional dispensation,” he told the KBC, adding that Kenyans “needed to be fully educated on the constitution because it will affect their lives but they are now being influenced without hindsight of the contents.”

The head of the ACK’s advocacy group, Bishop Beneah Salala of Mumias, told the Sunday Nation that the Church would not fund the ‘no’ campaign. “As a bishop, I will never ask Christians to tithe and give their money to fund the No campaign. We don’t want to antagonise Kenyans,” he said.

In his sermon at All Saints Cathedral on May 2, Archbishop Wabukala said he feared the forthcoming campaign would be short on substance and long on emotion. It was a “difficult time” in the nation’s history, he said, but urged Kenyans to “use the next one month to read the document and pray.”

However, as a Christian, he had a duty to speak out against clauses in the draft that were contrary to Christian teaching, the archbishop said.