Prayer Alert from the All Africa Conference of Churches – April 2023

Dear siblings in the ecumenical family,

Ecumenical greetings from the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC). The AACC continues to ask for your prayers for God’s intervention in the following situations:

Kenya: The opposition coalition called on protests that rocked many parts of Kenya and this led to a standoff between citizens and the police. The demonstrations are continuing, called for every Monday and Thursday. This situation disrupts business particularly in the main cities, including incidents of property destruction and vandalism.

Reputable church leaders have started taking steps to enable reconciliation. The AACC pleads with all leaders in the country irrespective of the political divide to cease propagating messages that bring division and violence. Please pray for the political leadership of Kenya on all sides to demonstrate tolerance and promote political discourse.

Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar: Cyclone Freddy has significantly impacted livelihoods in the three countries. It has left an appalling humanitarian situation in its wake. More than 300 health facilities have been destroyed or flooded, leaving communities without adequate access to health services. The extensive damages have affected more than 1.4 million people and stretched the limit of the capacity of health systems. Reports from the three countries show that 605 people died and so many others are still missing. In the face of this crisis and chaos, the countries are facing a worst cholera outbreak which is exacerbated by those poor water, sanitation and hygiene conditions. Please pray for God’s intervention and for the humanitarian community to be able to mobilize resources for emergency response scale up.

Cameroon: We continued to receive sad stories of killings and unhuman treatment from the ground in Cameroon. In February 2023, there were good news of talks facilitated by Canada but the Government of Cameroon later on denied having asked any country to broker a resolution to the conflict. Tensions between govt and Anglophone separatists remained high amid that stalled peace initiative, and jihadist violence persisted in Far North. Meanwhile, separatist leaders, who are divided into distinct militia factions have started discussing possibility of more united anti-govt front. Both parties continued to intensify military activities in North West and South West. Please pray for God’s protection, for unity of purpose for peace among top Cameroonian officials and
separatists’ leaders.

Nigeria: The Federal Republic of Nigeria had its general elections on February 25, 2023 and governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections later in March. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Bola Tinubu from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party winner of the presidential election but main opposition challengers have expressed frustration about the manner in which the process was conducted. Nigeria’s opposition Labour Party candidate Peter Obi has filed a court petition challenging the outcome of the presidential election. Election observers from the European Union, the Commonwealth, and other bodies including the Christian Association of Nigeria reported a range of problems, among them failures in systems designed to prevent vote manipulation. Please pray for peace and security, and for all parties and supporters to refrain from violence and promote dialogue to peacefully conclude the electoral process.

“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.” 1 Timothy 2:1