Author: Nation Correspondent
Date: January 18, 2007
Type of article: News
Source: The Daily Nation - only available online by registration and paid subscription fee

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More than 200 religious leaders have launched a campaign to make religion meaningful to Africans.

The campaign was launched simultaneously in Nairobi’s Kibera, Kangemi and Korogocho slums, where majority of residents live in poverty.

Local and foreign delegates attending the World Forum on Theology and Liberation were taken from the conference’s venue in Karen to the slums.

The chairperson of the local executive committee, Prof Mary Getui, said the aim was to get the delegates, who are in the city to attend next week’s Word Social Forum, engaged at the grassroots level. 

Theory vs practical

“What we are saying is that we need the theory and we need the practical, we should not just preach to the people, we should also sort out their needs, get involved in their concerns and as much as possible, together, provide solutions,” said Prof Getui, the dean of the school of humanities and social sciences at Kenyatta University.

The conference will be closed tomorrow by Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu.

Impoverished

The international coordinator of the Justice and Peace Commission, Sister Maura Browne said: “Looking at the world, the Gospel and the impoverished people, this is why we are here.”

The registration of delegates to the World Social Forum, which was being done at Kenyatta International Conference Centre, was postponed yesterday due to a technical hitch.

Engineers from mobile phone service provider Celtel were unable to install and connect cables for Internet service. Celtel Kenya is the conference’s official communications company.