AFRICA/KENYA - Elections: Archbishop Lele’s appeal "avoid violence and ethnic discrimination"

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - "Choose peace for our beloved Kenya, before, during and after the general election. We can only do that by transcending our ethnic affiliations, voting good leaders capable of serving people without discrimination, and rejecting all forms of pre and post election violence," said Archbishop Boniface Lele, Archbishop of Mombasa, in a statement sent to the various national bodies of information, on the occasion of the presidential and parliamentary elections of March 4.
Archbishop Lele has in particular stressed the need to overcome ethnic divisions and accept the winner despite the ethnic community they come from: "Our Nation belongs to all the diverse ethnic communities found in the same land and whoever emerges the winner after the General Election should be accepted and respected by all as the choice of majority Kenyans."
Archbishop Lele finally pointed out that any post-election dispute must be resolved through the judicial system, without resorting to violence.
"Political violence cannot resolve election disputes and neither can it be justified under any circumstance," said the Archbishop of Mombasa. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 28/02/2013)