Kenya missionaries preparing the country for elections

In Kenya voters go to the polls on March 4 in the first general election since the disputed election of December 2007 exploded into violence.

Kenyans are called to choose a president, members of parliament and senators, county governors and members of the newly formed county assembly.

President Maw Kinaki will not be seeking re-election. Prime Minister Rail Doing, his partner in the uneasy coalition, is a front-runner in the presidential race. The post of prime minister - created in a peace agreement negotiated by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan - will cease to exist.

But the shadows of the last election that saw factional violence that killed some 1000 people, still haunts the political climate.

In a months time deputy prime minister and presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta will face trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the 2007 post-election violence.

His running mate, William Rut, has also been indicted by the court. The former antagonists, whose ethnic groups were at the heart of the conflict, have now paired up to form a coalition challenging Doing.

Meanwhile, on the ground, amongst those preparing the people to go to the polls and working for peace, are Comboni missionaries.

Father Paulino Mondo, a Comboni missionary and a parish priest in the impoverished Kariobangi area close to Nairobi, tells Vatican Radio’s Davide Maggiore he is confident that peace will prevail.

Listen to the interview…

Father Paulino says the Comboni Missionaries have put at the disposition of the nation their schools, their compounds close to the Church to make sure that people can come and vote peacefully.

Through the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church groups of peacemakers have been set up to make sure that nobody is harassed or hurt.


He thinks that by being on the frontline, the church can contribute towards a peaceful election.


He says he is not afraid that there will be new post-electoral violence because both at a parish level, and in his capacity as Director of a Catholic Radio, together with the local television and the Justice and Peace Commission much work has been done in preparation for these elections to make sure that people go to the polls with a peaceful mentality.


He says he is on the ground. Every day – he says – he gives a ten minute talk reiterating the importance of peace.


The missionaries – he says – have also been in communication with the Police and anybody who is armed for the sake of peace.