PC(USA) partner asks for prayers on eve of Kenyan elections

Contested and annulled August election leads to second round of polling

by Gregg Brekke | Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE — On the eve of a contested second round of elections in Kenya, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) partner the Rev. Peter Kaniah, Secretary General of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, implored:

Peter Kaniah. (Photo via Facebook)

As leaders of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa in Kenya we ask that you join with us in prayer for peace throughout the national Kenyan re-election process.

Kenyan elections held on Tuesday, August 8th were by and large peaceful and within a few days the incumbent, President Uhuru Kenyatta, was declared the winner. The opposition filed petitions with the Supreme Court, and on September 1st, the Supreme Court annulled the presidential election results based on the failure to follow clean constitutional processes.

A second election is now scheduled to be held on October 26th. There is growing concern about whether or not peace will be maintained through the process. Church leaders are stepping in as mediators, and many sectors of society are calling for sobriety and peace, urging that campaigning proceed peacefully and in a spirit of civility and peace.

Please join in praying over Kenya. We do not want to go the way of violence and destruction like happened after the 2007 elections.

As Kaniah noted, Kenya’s Supreme Court annulled the August election won by incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta over what it cited as procedural irregularities.

The opposition, led by Raila Odinga, said it will boycott tomorrow’s election unless several demands are met, including the removal from office of the chief executive of the electoral commission, Ezra Chiloba, who has taken three weeks leave and will not be involved in the election.