Catholic bishops have stepped up their push-back against the government by launching a 40-day campaign and prayers against injustice, social and economic ills bedeviling the nation.

Speaking in Mombasa Friday, the clergy condemned runaway corruption, arbitrary abductions, over-taxation and the introduction of a dysfunctional new Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).

After months of calls on the government to end abduction and extrajudicial killings, the bishops said all priests and the Church leadership will dedicate the lent period to sensitising Kenyans and praying.

In the campaign christened The Kenya We Deserve, the bishops appeared to wash their hands off the regime some of them supported, saying it had failed to respect the sanctity of life. "We express profound dismay over abductions and extrajudicial killings that threaten the sanctity of life and our nation," said their chairman, Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba.