Archbishop of York's General Synod Address reflecting on his recent visit to Kenya

Members of Synod, I bring you greetings from the Anglican Church of Kenya and indeed all Christians in that country. The Archbishop of Kenya was grateful for my visit and the letter expressing support and commitment to the people of Kenya by his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Everywhere I went his opening words were "We are grateful that the Archbishop of York is with us, and the Archbishop of Canterbury has sent us a letter of support which has lifted our hearts". No wonder I call the Archbishop of Canterbury 'my Moses'.

As you know I left for Kenya on the 7^th February and returned to England on the 12^th. In my conversations with the Primate of Kenya, Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, both of us were of one mind that my visit would be a blessing to the church and nation post the election crisis. It would bring an understanding to the Church of England and the United Kingdom of the need for

Humanitarian relief

Church mobilisation for peace and inter-faith dialogue

Reconciliation and peace building

Engagement with the political and peace process

In the post-election crisis more than 1,000 people have been killed and 300,000 forced from their homes.

During my visit I saw many of what the Kenyans call 'internal displaced people (IDPs) being cared for in homes – where families were taking in as many as 25 – 60 people. The refugees camps were housing between 300 to 2000 IDPs.

In my conversation with leaders of the Anglican Church, the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, the National Council of Churches of Kenya, President Kibaki and Honourable Raila Odinga, and Tear Fund it was clear that humanitarian relief is for them a top priority.

We must provide funds to help the church cope with this crisis – to provide food, non-food items such as bedding, sanitary equipment for women, and for psychological trauma counselling. In the many camps I visited I saw people with broken limbs and other physical injuries and many who had been terribly traumatized. One woman who had lost her mind because she saw her husband hacked to death. In the Nairobi slums 60,000 children in 70 schools have been traumatized by the recent events.

Both President Kibaki and Honourable Raila Odinga saw the role of the church as vital in humanitarian relief, peace-building and reconciliation. The church in Kenya is already providing vital help, support and care.

For example in Kisumu, where the trouble started, the cathedral and its precincts were being used for housing and repatriating many displaced persons and was the centre of operations for providing relief.

The Provincial Commissioner of Nyanza Mr Paul Olando, paid tribute to the work of the Bishop of Maseno and his Christian counterparts. In Eldoret, the largest displaced persons camp, where I saw row upon row of huge tents housing around 2000 people, again here the bishops were in the forefront of providing relief, working in collaboration with other Christian leaders, the Tear Fund regional team, Christian Aid, Catholic Relief Service, World Vision, World Relief, Churches Together in Kenya, and the Kenyan Red Cross.

The churches throughout Kenya have come together to tackle the conflict that has arisen between the different tribal groupings.

In the Rift valley and Central reconciliation is needed between the Kalenjin and Kikuyu,

in Central Rift Valley and eastern Nyanza – between the Kipsigis and Kisii,

in Central Rift valley and Lower Rift Valley – between the Kipsigis and Maasai,

in the Lower Rift Valley and Central – between the Maasai and Kikuyu

in the Coast and South-eastern- between the Miji Kenda and Kamba.

And all the Christian leaders in Kenya are committed to facilitating and delivering this work of reconciliation and peace-building

I would like to express my gratitude to the Church and the people of Kenya who accompanied me and looked after me in the midst of their current crisis. I am also grateful to the Government of Kenya who allowed me to fly to all areas that had been devastated by the violence.

My meetings with those who are engaged in the dialogue and reconciliation process chaired by Mr Kofi Annan demonstrated to me a commitment from all parties to the success of the political process.

In his statement to members of the Kenyan parliament yesterday, Mr Kofi Annan revealed how the mediation process has progressed and agreement has been achieved in four major areas of contention.

• Item One: Measures to End the Violence and Restore Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. Some key commitments were made:

• Item Two, Immediate Measures to Address the Humanitarian Situation and Promote Reconciliation, Healing and Restoration.

• We are now discussing Item Three, How to End the Political Crisis. – including the establishment of local and national truth and reconciliation bodies.

• Item four critical longer term issues. These include land reform, tackling poverty and inequity; addressing transparency, accountability and impunity and supporting equal access to opportunity.

He is hoping that the remaining obstacles will be overcome soon.

He has now gone to a secret location for retreat with the mediators .

May I therefore urge members of Synod to redouble their prayers for a successful outcome of these negotiations; the end to violence in Kenya. May I also ask you to give generously to the relief effort, and for Income Tax purposes your gift should be made to CMS, who will forward our contribution to the Anglican Church of Kenya.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and I are today launching an appeal to all Christians in this country to give generously to the humanitarian relief of all displaced persons in Kenya.

Please note for the General Synod - Summary of Business Conducted on Wednesday 13th February 2008 AM - please click here.