Pastors ask Kenyan Government for AK-47 rifles

Catholics in Kenya are expressing shock after some evangelical pastors in the coastal region said they wanted AK-47 rifles to protect themselves and their congregations from attacks by suspected Islamists, writes Fredrick Nzwili in Nairobi.

This follows the cold-blooded murder of two of their colleagues, while they prayed inside churches in the region. The deaths, two weeks ago, brought to four the numbers of pastors killed recently.

With a “guns and Bibles” debate sparking off countrywide, Mombasa Archbishop Boniface Lele said this was the wrong approach. “It contradicts Christian teaching against non-violence. We cannot preach while guns sling on our shoulders,” Archbishop Lele told The Tablet.

Protestant and Evangelical churches in Mombasa are facing increased attacks, linked to Islamic youths who are showing signs of increased radicalisation, according to church leaders. The archdiocese vicar general, Fr Wilybard Lagho, said religious extremism was an ideological problem that could not be ended with guns.

“This is a misunderstanding of the complex nature of religious intolerance. It is a shallow solution and I find it shocking,” said Fr Lagho, who also heads the interfaith desk in the archdiocese. “It is in the mind and we have to change these minds.”

Some observers, however, say the call for guns indicates the Churches’ growing frustration with the increasing insecurity.