It is widely agreed that many African countries are on the right trajectory as far as peace and development are concerned. But it is also a fact that goes without mentioning that peace and development in many of these African countries, with few exceptions, have been destabilized by conflicts, especially the kind of conflicts emanating from elections that leave people polarized along political, religious, and tribal lines. In most cases, the electoral violence in Africa comes as a result of disputed elections in which lives are lost, property lost and many people displaced.

In Kenya, for instance, its past elections have been characterized by repeated elections related violence – the worst in its history being in 2007/8 when more than 1,000 people lost their lives. This year 2022, Kenya was once again warming up for yet another hotly contested General Elections in 9th August and the country’s National Cohesion and Integration Commission moved to map out high-risk and potential hotspots where electoral violence was likely to erupt.

It is for this reason that the Programme for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa (PROCMURA) joined other peace actors in Kenya to call for peaceful elections as the country prepared to go into the polls. PROCMURA devised and implemented a rigorous three-pronged peace campaign dubbed ‘Chai Na Amani’ to help avert any possible elections violence, especially in the mapped-out hotspots. The ‘Chai Na Amani’, which is a Kiswahili tagline coined for the PROCMURA’s campaign for peaceful elections in Kenya in 2022, loosely translates to ‘having conversations of peace over a cup of tea’.

The first level of the PROCMURA peace campaign for peaceful elections in Kenya involved the ‘meet the people’ peace caravans in the likely hotspots in the country’s capital, Nairobi, and sharing a cup of tea and snacks right in their neighborhood as the various stakeholders, including the general public of various age groups, engaged on guided conversations on the need and importance of maintaining peace before, during and after the General Elections.

The informal settlements around Nairobi, which is also the capital of political contestation with ripple effects to the other parts of the country, have a long history of suffering longstanding effects of elections related violence. This informed the calendar of peace campaign caravans in the ‘Chai Na Amani’ initiative. The Chai Na Amani caravans which snaked through the Kawangware, Kibera, and Mathare slums, especially engaging the young people, radiated hope and optimism among the general public in terms of having a peaceful elections, which finally did.

Apart from the informal settlements where the Chai Na Amani campaign met the public and other stakeholders in the electoral processes, the peace campaign caravan visited other targeted stakeholders in the Kenyan elections including members of the police service and the youth. History has it that the police and the youth have previously clashed during election seasons, whether in violent demonstrations or political campaigns. The young people are mostly manipulated by politicians to fan electoral violence with studies attributing that to high poverty and joblessness levels among the youth, the more reason the Chai Na Amani campaign mainly targeted this section of the population.

The second level of the PROCMURA’s campaign for peaceful elections in Kenya deployed PROCMURA Peace Ambassadors to push the campaign in the online spaces, especially on social media. The social media space has, for a long time, been used to drive hatred along political, religious, and tribal lines, especially during election seasons.

The amount of propaganda, misinformation, and political and tribal hatred spread on social media platforms is, without a doubt, fodder for electoral violence, and PROCMURA fully alive to that fact, deployed its peace ambassadors, especially young people, to take and spread messages of peace in these platforms. The online campaign reached far and wide with responses and messages of peace and goodwill streaming in even from those following the situation from outside Kenya.

The signing of the PROCMURA online peace petition formed another layer of the larger ‘Chai Na Amani’ peace campaign. Here, Kenyans pledged to keep peace before, during, and after the General Elections. Those from outside Kenya left messages of goodwill to Kenyans as they prepared to go into the polls to elect their next set of leaders. By the time of closing the petition, close to 1,300 people had signed.

The Chai Na Amani peace campaign which officially started on July 25, 2055 with fact-finding missions earlier on in Kibera informal settlements, climaxed with a Peace Concert that included a ‘Chai Na Amani’ football challenge match in which winners were awarded, recognition of PROCMURA Peace ambassadors, and the performance of fifty (50) young artists in one of the informal settlements in the outskirts on Nairobi.

The performances in the Peace Concerts spoke to the need and importance of Kenyans remaining one as a people, as a nation even with the tight elections. The PROCMURA peace campaign for peaceful elections in Kenya was informed by several reports that had mapped out several areas in Kenya that were likely to experience elections-related violence.

The Programme for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa (PROCMURA) has launched a robust peace campaign aimed at educating and sensitizing members of the public, especially the young people, on the need and importance of maintaining peace ahead of, during, and after the General Elections in Kenya slated for August 9, 2022.

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The Programme for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa (PROCMURA), continues to embark on its journey of equipping communities and more especially religious leaders among other stakeholders on religious freedom. Religious Leaders are well known to play important roles in raising awareness and influencing attitudes, behaviours, and practices that shape the social values of communities of faith and the general society. Consequently, equipping them with knowledge and skills on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FORB) is key and fundamental in PROCMURA’s quest to promote FORB for all across the continent.

Religious leaders are more often than not respected personalities in their communities. Priests, pastors, imams, sheikhs and other leaders within faith-based communities play influential roles in shaping attitudes, opinions and behaviours because their members and the general community have trust in them. Both community members and political leaders as well as all and sundry listen to the voices of the religious leaders. PROCMURA as a faith-based organization, therefore, deems it important and appropriate to empower and build the capacity of religious leaders of men, women, and youth to be prime promoters of FORB in line with its stated overall goal – “to see an African continent where Christians and Mus-lims uphold the principles of religious freedom and all that it entails”.

Some parts of the African continent where PROCMURA has been working and operating in for over the past sixty years of its existence continue to experience violent conflicts some of which are precipitated by violations of Freedom of religion or belief as embodied in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of the United Nations.

_{Rev. Dr. Adrake Komi; General Adviser of PROCMURA}

PROCMURA is concerned about the peace and peaceful -existence between Christians and Muslims and remains indifferent to any phenomenon that will jeopardize the peace and development of the continent. Freedom of religion as well known by those associated with PROCMURA, falls within its stated goal of seeing “An African Continent where Christians and Muslims uphold the principles of religious freedom and all that it entails”.

Remaining committed to this goal, PROCMURA has over the past four years, organised Progammes on Freedom of Religion or Belief at the continental, regional, and country levels. The East and Southern Africa Regional Training of Trainers (ToT) on FORB is the latest of such programmes. The TOT took place from the 14th - 17th of August 2022 in Kampala, Uganda. The training brought together 46 participants made up of religious leaders, women, youth, legal practitioners, and the media from Five (5) East and Southern African Countries of Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.

_{Rt. Rev. Fr. Mbonabingi; Bishop of the Orthodox Church and G.S UJCC}

The FORB training was officially opened by Rt. Rev. Fr. Archemenrite Constantine Mbonabingi, General Secretary of the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) and also the Chairperson of the PROCMURA Area Committee in Uganda.

The chief guest of the training programme, the second deputy Mufti of Uganda Sheikh Muhamad Ali Waiswa in his speech expressed his gratitude to PROCMURA for selecting Uganda to host this very important training for religious leaders for the East and southern Africa region. He made it clear to the gathering that Uganda, as country, has over the years worked for peace and peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims and that the country has a rich history of religion and culture which mingles across the country and this has in large measure helped to unify its people. He commended PROCMURA’s efforts as a Christian organisation that has continued to build bridges and good relations between Christians and Muslims across the continent of Africa and making remarkable positive contributions in promoting freedom of religion for all.

The Team Leader - Finance and Administration of PROCMURA, Ms. Joy Wandabwa, in her presentation of the rationale of the FORB training, stressed on the importance of knowledge and understanding of the concept of FORB. The Knowledge and practice of FORB will contribute to the peace and development, that Africa so desires. This will also contribute to achieving the African Union Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

_{Ms. Joy Wandabwa; PROCMURA's Team Leader}

Various training models on FORB were outlined by different facilitators and experts expounding on a number of issues such as, an introduction to FORB, Identification of FORB violations, FORB as a human right, FORB from Christian and Muslim perspectives, FORB and women, and skills in promoting FORB among others.

Participants were able to share and make sound contributions on their understanding on some of the FORB limitations that were presented, especially when manifestations of religions and beliefs turn to disturb public order, safety, and morals and also when the manifestations infringe on the rights of others.

PROCMURA’s consultant; Rev. Dr. Johnson Mbillah outlined the Christian faith perspective on FORB. The major concern is for Christians to understand FORB from their faith perspective and not in spite of their faith perspective. There are intra-Christian and inter-Christian and Muslim violations that affect freedom of religion negatively, Dr. Mbillah noted.

Sheik Ahmed Seth who is the Chairperson of the Isiolo Interfaith Council in Kenya, led the discussions on FORB from a Quranic perspective, where he underscored the fact that Islam recognizes and respects the presence of other religions. Participants engaged the various facilitators and also participated in practical activities.

_{Rev. Dr. Salli Effungani; PROCMURA's Programme Officer facilitating an activity session.}

The workshop ended with a closing ceremony which saw participants present their country action plans with clear strategies on how to promote FORB in their respective countries. Participants also issued a communique stipulating their commitments to the promotion of FORB. A certificate of participation was issued to every participant. The training ended with participants reciting some phrases such as; FORB protects people and not religions or beliefs.

Follow this link to read the communique. 

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