The Chair of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Archbishop Emeritus Dr Eliud Wabukala has called on religious heads to ban political activities in churches and demand accountability from political leadership noting that elements within the political class continue to clean and hide their illicit proceeds through donations in churches.
Noting that the EACC shares a common interest with religious institutions in shaping the destiny of the nation by championing for integrity, Dr Wabukala urged church leaders to support the existing anti-corruption interventions.
Specifically, the EACC Chairman urged church leaders to take the lead in encouraging and educating the faithful through targeted messaging on good governance and integrity.
“Let us foster positive values to cause cultural re-engineering and ethical behavior in our societies. This is possible by using the family unit and homes to pass ‘value-centric’ teachings and lessons to young ones,” he said.
He was addressing religious leaders at the Commission’s Faith-Based Organisations capacity building in a speech read on his behalf by Ms Lucy Kinuthia, Director Ethics and Leadership, EACC, yesterday at Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, (KICD) Nairobi.
He called on church leaders to support interventions aimed at barring persons engaged in corrupt and unethical conduct from election or appointment into public office, and invited the church to work together with the EACC to advocate for the strengthening of the legal framework on the implementation of Chapter Six of the Constitution.
Religious leaders, he said, can make a contribution in setting the ethical tone to ensure that national values and principles of governance are upheld. He, at the same time, challenged religious leaders to be good role models and integrity champions by demonstrating a commitment to integrity through exemplary character and action with the best of intentions.
“As church leaders, embracing the tenets of service with mercy, humility, compassion, fairness, and integrity are crucial in the delivery of services to the people. Christians ought to understand that they are leaders and their lifestyle must reflect Christ-like character not only at church on weekends but also in their daily interactions,” Wabukala said.
Urging the church leaders to be agents of positive transformation, Ms Kinuthia insisted that integrity tone has to be set at the top, by the head, at every level.
The training aimed at, among others, to build the capacity of the participants on their role in the fight against corruption and unethical practices, to explore on the various ways the EACC can jointly work with religious communities and forge joint initiatives, develop an action plan with the religious communities, develop joint messaging for religious communities media platforms and to identify priority areas for immediate engagement.
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