By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-01-07 20:31:23 | Updated at 2025-01-08 17:21:39
20 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // Catholic bishops in Kenya recently urged the Kenyan government to stop the surge in abductions, Kenyan newspaper The Standard reports.
“We are waking up to abductions. Corruption is rampant and all these evils do not augur well for a just society which we are all eager to see a thriving Kenya,” Archbishop Martin Kivuva Musonde of the Archdiocese of Mombasa stated at Holy Ghost Cathedral. “These unfortunate happenings are taking Kenya back to the days before our independence.”
He also stated that families, churches, and schools play an integral role in shaping children’s lives. He also stated that it was important to instill hope instead of doubt.
Another Catholic bishop, Bishop Joseph Obanyi Sagwe from Kenya’s Diocese of Kakamega, called on the government to protect women who, according to The Standard, have recently been increasingly targeted in cases of femicide, in which women and girls are murdered because of their gender. He also called for an end to abduction.
“The government and security apparatus should put to end cases of abduction of our youths,” Obanyi stated. “We need to protect the rights of our people, freedom of expression, and democracy, and no family wishes for the disappearances of its kin. It is painful and uncalled for when our young people get abducted and disappear. It is dangerous for our democracy and future generations which should stop at all costs.”
According to the Associated Press in its Dec. 30 coverage of government protests in Nairobi, recent reports allege that police have abducted young people who criticize the current government and President WIlliam Ruto.
“Four social media users went missing after they shared AI-generated images of President Ruto that were deemed offensive by government supporters,” the article stated.
Police have denied involvement, and the president called for an end to the abductions. Seven people were abducted in December 2024, according to the report, and 82 people have been abducted since anti-government protests began in June 2024.
