By Ramadhan Rajab, The Star – Cardinal John Njue has urged caution over the calls for a referendum.
Speaking after officiating a family day celebrations at the Regina Caeli Karen Catholic Parish yesterday, Njue said the calls for a referendum are ill-timed.
At the moment, it is not appropriate for the country to brace for another round of election due to the existing political tensions coupled up with other national challenges he said.
“We are worried about the issue of the referendum at this moment and it is a matter that needs careful approach,” Njue said.
He said had the nation listened to the church before voting on the new constitution in 2010, the country would not be facing the current challenges in implementing the constitution.
“We spoke about these issues. We wanted those articles that had doubts or were unclear clarified or rectified before we went to a referendum. But we were bashed and told that we should just pass the constitution the way it was and address problems later. So the current problems we are experiencing are a manifestation that we are reaping what we sowed,” Njue said.
The Council of Governors is pushing for a referendum to demand more allocation of national revenue to the counties.
Cord on other hand is pushing for a referendum to address security, allocation of funds to the counties.
The government has opposed the call for a referendum.
Njue called on politicians in both the government and the opposition to promote peaceful co-existence and embrace cooperation.
“We call on leaders to look for peaceful way of solving their differences and should avoid confrontations,” he said.
Njue said it will be unfortunate if the land issue will be used to ignite further tension.
