Religious leaders demand protection of whistleblowers

By Khery Apondi

Religious leaders under the umbrella of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) Nyanza region, have called on the government to protect whistleblowers, sharing information on cases of insecurity in Kisumu.

Addressing the press at the Coptic Orthodox Church in Nyamasaria on Thursday, the leaders led by bishop Clement Otieno Okuta, chairman NCCK Kisumu said most parts of Lakeside City are no longer safe.

The leaders accused police of revealing names of whistleblowers to suspects, instead of protecting them in a bid to effectively address the issue of insecurity.

“The issue of security is becoming a real issue because people don’t want to speak even if they know something, because the policemen will give information to these thugs. It is so and so who gave your name, and the lives of these people are under threat,” said Okuta.

Alarmingly, Father Thomas Onyango of the Coptic Orthodox Church said locals are attacked next to police posts as early as 7am, and no action is taken by security officers.

“All parts of Kisumu are now insecure. It is not safe to walk and you find that all this is happening in the eyes of police officers. We don’t know what the government is doing about it,” he said.  

Bishop Okuta urged both the national and county government to strengthen public communication avenues, so that Kenyans are brought up to speed with development programs, public policies and conflict resolution mechanisms that have been put in place.

“As stakeholders, we affirm our dedication to championing peace building initiatives and ensuring that public information delivery becomes a powerful tool for preventing conflict and building trust among communities,” he said.

Similarly, he called on President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration to strengthen early warning and conflict response to avoid any kind of tension in the country.