Tearfund’s partner in Kenya is part of a team of church leaders who are lobbying both President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to call for a power-sharing agreement.
The move comes as violence continues to simmer in the country, where December’s disputed elections have cost 1,000 lives and forced 300,000 people to flee their homes.
Talks between the two sides broke down on Monday with both sides blaming each other for the deadlock.
Church in reconciliation work
Church leaders have been involved in lobbying both sides, as well as in community reconciliation work, since 30 December.
Tearfund’s partner, the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, has been instrumental in the formation of an inter-religious group which has used its collective lobbying power to negotiate at a national level. The group has so far held three meetings with the former UN chief, Kofi Annan, and his negotiating team.
The meetings were described as 'very fruitful' by the Revd Dr Wellington Mutiso, General Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya.
Involvement in these talks represents a postive departure for the church, which was formerly seen as heavily partisan in Kenya and which, consequently, did not have a voice in politics at either a local or national level.
‘The politics of Kenya involved us in a very divisive way,’ said the Dr Mutiso. ‘The church ended up becoming very partisan. It was very difficult for the church to be the mediator in such a time as this.’
But the last month has seen many meetings held between church leaders from different tribes to build a foundation from which the church as a whole could then speak. ‘There has been repentance and forgiveness,’ said Dr Mutiso.
Protests
But the opposition party has said that if an agreement is not reached, it will call its supporters out in a new round of national protests on Thursday.
‘We are afraid that there will be more mass action,’ said Dr Mutiso, ‘and mass action means looting, killing, burning people’s properties, things like that. If there is another wave of violence we are afraid that there will be very many dead. The next few days are very, very critical.’
So, in a bid to promote peace, the church leaders have called tomorrow’s meetings with President Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Dr Mutiso asks that Christians in the UK pray for the meetings, that the two leaders will ‘see sense’ and for the protection of the estimated 300,000 displaced people living in camps.