Rachuonyo East Deputy County Commissioner (DCC), Job Kemey, has praised residents for upholding peace during nationwide protests against the Finance Bill 2024.
The DCC said the sub-county has experienced peace during the campaign for the 2022 general elections, and the peace has prevailed all through.
‘So now I want to thank the residents for the prevailing peace, and I also want to thank the peace stakeholders for ensuring that peace is maintained in times of crisis,’ the DCC said during a peace meeting held on Friday.
Apollo Bwana, Chief Council of Elders Homabay County and Chair of the Sub-County Peace Committee, said conflict is always going to be there, and he asked leaders to learn how to manage it.
‘If we go to the Bible, it started in heaven; that tells you how conflict is here with us and it lives with us,’ he said during the peace meeting, which the DCC said was meant as a proactive part of planning for what ‘we need to be doing as the peace committee and also to look at the progress which has b
een made since the last general election.’
The chair of the peace committee called on the leaders from all ranks to manage conflict before it gets out of proportion, saying the leaders must understand the position of any conflict, the issues of the conflict, and then employ strategic action to resolve the crisis in time.
On the Gen Z protest against the Finance Bill 2024 that the president has already dropped, he said the young people were noble in their course but cautioned against scenes witnessed on the destruction and looting of properties.
‘They were very noble in terms of the items they were looking for, especially the rejection of the Finance Bill 2024,’ he said.
He said Gen-Z should continue pressing for reforms in government, but they must pick what is workable. Saying what is not workable might take this country to bigger problems.
The DCC said the peace meeting was called because they want to look at their achievements so far, what challenges they are facing as a committee, and what they are n
ot able to handle as a peace committee.
The sub-county peace committee has various representations from women, church leaders, security teams, the youth, the business community, boda bodas riders, the media, and others.
Source: Kenya News Agency