wfn.org | KENYA: ANGLICAN PRIMATES PROTEST OVER POLICE VIOLENCE

[a.whitefield@quest.org.uk]

Title:KENYA: ANGLICAN PRIMATES PROTEST OVER POLICE VIOLENCE
July 21, 1997
ANGLICAN COMMUNION NEWS SERVICE
Canon James M Rosenthal, Director of Communications
Anglican Communion Office,
London, UK
Tel: [44] (0)171 620-1110   Fax: [44] (0)171 620-1070

97.7.4.4

KENYA: ANGLICAN PRIMATES PROTEST OVER POLICE VIOLENCE

(ENI) A gathering of Anglican archbishops from throughout Africa,
meeting in Johannesburg this week, has heard a strongly-worded
condemnation of the Kenyan government for using violence against
demonstrators demanding democratic reforms.

At least ten people died last week after Kenyan security forces broke up 
demonstrations calling for reform. The security forces also stormed All 
Saints' Anglican Cathedral in Nairobi and attacked pro-reform supporters 
sheltering inside the building. (See ACNS 11 July)

The violent clashes between the Kenyan government and pro-democracy 
demonstrators forced Archbishop David Gitari of Kenya to delay his trip
to the All Africa Primates Conference, the consultation was told by the 
Archbishop of Central Africa, Khotso Makhulu.

"At this stage when the model of one-party states is no longer
acceptable, we cannot tolerate to have a situation like in Kenya, where
people holding peaceful meetings are being tear gassed and beaten,"
Archbishop Makhulu said at the opening of the meeting on Monday (14
July).

The Most Revd Njongonkulu Ndungane, the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town
and Primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, who is
hosting the conference, said that recent occurrences in Africa led him
to fear that the "naked face of tyranny" was appearing in new forms on
the continent". His remarks were understood as a reference to the
situation in Kenya.

Meanwhile, in a ceremony held in Nairobi on Sunday (13 July) at All
Saint's Cathedral to cleanse the building following the action of the
security forces, Archbishop Gitari warned Kenyan president Daniel arap
Moi that the days of his rule were likely to be numbered.Thousands of
people in sombre mood filled the cathedral and its precincts as 
Archbishop Gitari led hundreds of clergy in the cleansing ritual which
was also a memorial service for those killed in the disturbances.

"To defile a holy place is sufficient reason in the eyes of God to bring 
those in authority tumbling down", Archbishop Gitari told the
congregation.

Those in the congregation included the radical Muslim cleric, Sheikh
Khalid Balala, who had returned to Kenya 18 hours earlier from forced
exile. Sheikh Balala, the leader of the Islamic Party of Kenya and a
prominent campaigner for reforms, was stripped of his citizenship in
November 1994 while on a visit to Germany.

"We were told Sheikh Balala would never come back to Kenya and now he is 
here with us in the congregation," Archbishop Gitari told the
worshippers, who cheered at the mention of the sheikh's name.

"Now also the clamour for reforms is unstoppable," Archbishop Gitari
added.

Timothy Njoya, a prominent Presbyterian cleric who was injured by
police, said that if reforms did not come as demanded, Kenyans should be
asked to hold a day of prayer instead of taking part in elections, which
should be held before the end of this year.