ANGLICAN RESPONSES TO KADHI’S COURTS IN KENYA

Abstract

This contribution seeks to show the role of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) leadership to the current discourse on whether or not there should be a provision for Kadhi’s courts in the Kenyan constitution. The Anglican Church is the largest and oldest Protestant Church in Kenya. With a strong record of public engagement since the colonial times to the present, an analysis of the Church serves to show the changing role of religion in the public sphere within various contexts. As a background to the Anglican Church’s involvement in the present discourse, this essay examines the contribution of some Anglican bishops in three discourses namely: the queue-voting controversy (1986-1990); the multiparty debate ( 1990-1991); and the constitutional review process (1999 to the present). The present discourse on Kadhi’s courts falls within the constitutional review process. In order to interrogate the reasons behind the Anglican position on Kadhi’s courts, I interviewed five Anglican Bishops and a senior cleric from western Kenya. This essay argues that while the past public engagement of Anglicans in fighting for democratic space in Kenya is significant, their discourse on Kadhi’s courts has polarised the Kenyan people and diverted attention from the pressing need for continued political economic and social reforms in Kenya. Such polarization must also be viewed from the context of the colonial and post-colonial state which failed to mould a national identity above religious and ethnic considerations. The polarization in the Kenyan society has not spared the Anglican Church of Kenya and its leadership. Thus the Church seems to be fighting a complex war in seeking to re-invent its image and public effectiveness.