Praying For a Peaceful Election

Kenya will hold a General Election on 4th March 2013. In preparation for this, prayer meetings are being conducted across the country. One such meeting was held in Makadara District in Nairobi on 1st September 2012. Leaders from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined over 20 religious leaders from other faiths, government officials and the members of the community at this meeting. The theme of this peace initiative in the district is ‘Promote Peace, Sustain Harmony’. It was launched at the City Stadium in Nairobi and attended by close to a thousand people.

The launch started with a street procession from St. Stephen Cathedral on Jogoo road to the stadium and was led by the Administrative Police and Salvation Army bands. At the stadium, religious leaders prayed for different issues such as security, peaceful general election, for families and for the country and its institutions. President Gordon Ondiek, second counselor in the Nairobi Stake Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was asked to deliver a special prayer for the country's leadership.

Speaking at the function, the District Commissioner, Suleiman Chege, welcomed everybody who attended and called upon the religious leaders to continue praying for a peaceful election wherever they meet with their congregations. The Nairobi Mayor, George Aladwa, counseled members of the community to keep the peace during and after the campaigns for elective positions in the district. The same message was echoed by the retired Bishop Joel Waweru of the Nairobi Diocese of the Anglican Church of Kenya who gave a keynote sermon. Bishop Waweru stated in his address, “Peace starts with the individual.”