The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) has issued a statement explaining their meeting with President William Ruto.
In a statement on June 27, the church leaders revealed that they requested a meeting with the president after realizing the critical state of Kenya in light of the anti-tax protests.
“The Executive Committee of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) has held its statutory meeting here at Jumuia Conference and Country Home, Limuru, over the last two days.
“During the meeting, the Executive Committee recognized that the nation of Kenya is at a critical moment of redefining and reshaping her identity, ethos and future. The Kenya of the next fifty years is being shaped now, and it is of cardinal importance that all Kenyans play their part,” the statement read.
The executive committee confirmed the meeting with the president and detailed the agenda, including concerns over the Finance Bill 2024 and police brutality during the ongoing demonstrations.
“The NCCK affirms that we requested for an appointment and met with His Excellency President William Ruto yesterday. The agenda of the meeting was to present our concerns over the failure by government to listen to Kenyans with regard to the Finance Bill 2024 and police brutality in the ongoing demonstrations, “the statement read.
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Church Leaders Concerns
The leaders disclosed the president’s commitment to addressing their concerns.
Additionally, NCCK shared the contents of the memorandum they presented to the president citing that will contribute to the shaping of the future of our nation,
“The President committed that the Bill would be withdrawn, that the police would cease brutality on the demonstrators, and the military would not be deployed. We have shared with the people of Kenya the memorandum that we presented to the President,” the committee said.
NCCK recognized that Kenya is a very youthful country, with those aged below 35 years constituting 79% of the population.
Likewise, they expressed concern that unemployment among the youth could result to a crisis and called on institutions to focus on empowering the youth.
“We therefore call upon all institutions and leaders to focus more than 80 percent of their efforts and resources on empowering the youth to have dignified livelihoods and to be equipped for leadership. The first step in this process is listening to the youth and creating platforms for them to shape the nation they desire to live in,” NCCK said.
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NCCK Commitment to the Youth
Following the meeting with the president, the Executive committee affirmed their contribution and efforts to empowering the youth.
NCCK committed to establishing youth centers for them to acquire skills and create pathways for them to earn.
“We will establish centers of excellence for the youth to acquire skills and opportunities for creating pathways for dignified livelihoods and creation of resilient communities,”
Further the committee condoled with the families of the youths that lost their lives during the #rejectthefinancebill protests and vowed to listen to the people of Kenya.
“We in the National Council of Churches of Kenya are mourning with deep sadness the deaths of dozens of Kenyans who have been killed by police during demonstrations. We pass our condolences to the families that have been bereaved by these unnecessary deaths and are praying for quick recovery for all those injured,” NCCK said.
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