National Chief Imam’s office embraces SDA Church’s plea for election date change

The office of the National Chief Imam has embraced the proposals by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, for a reconsideration of the December 7, date for general elections.

In a petition to the Electoral Commission (EC), the church expressed worry that its members might be disenfranchised due to the date since it falls on a Saturday, a day dedicated to the worship of God.

In addition to urging a change in the date, the church is calling for legislation to ensure that future elections in the country do not occur on religiously significant days.

Speaking to JoyNews, the Director for Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Dr. Solace Asafo highlighted that aside from a petition to the EC, the church has also discussed the matter with the National Chief Imam.

Dr Asafo stated that a proposed alternative suggested by the church to the EC for the election is the first Tuesday or a Tuesday in November or December 2024, to avoid any conflicts with religious days.

“It’s still a conflict because sometimes you stand in the queue on election day for a long time before you get to cast your vote and so that’s why we are advocating for.

“We’ve met with the Chief Imam, we’ve written to all the religious major organizations, we’ve met with all the political parties as well. So it’s not just demanding a change for some of the Adventists, but we think that it should not be held on any religious day.

“And our choice of Tuesday is also because traditionally, along the coast, most fishers folks don’t go fishing on Tuesday. So we think that it caters for everybody’s interests,” she said.

On the back of this, the spokesperson for the National Chief Imam echoed their support for the SDA’s suggestion, acknowledging the challenges the Muslim community would face if elections were held on Friday, a sacred day of worship in Islam.

He emphasised the importance of respecting the sacred days of different religions to ensure that democracy allows everyone the opportunity to cast their votes without compromising their religious practices.

“The Holy Quran makes it very clear that whenever the call to prayer is made on Friday, it says to stop any other worldly activity and hasten the remembrance of God.

“You cannot sacrifice the prayer so that you go and cast your vote because, for us, it’s a law in Islam. Our challenge is just at the time of our prayer and no Muslim will sacrifice the Friday prayer to go and cast because it’s it is seen as a mundane activity.

“For us, if we succeed in really getting a compromised day in which nobody’s religious practice is compromised or nobody’s religious right is undermined, I think that it will go a long way to also continue to unify us as a nation,” he said.