Church to render unto Caesar

Sacrilege. That is the only way to describe the case of a Catholic church being put up for sale.

If Jesus were to come back now, He would probably be as angry as He was when He found hawkers selling their wares in a temple in Jerusalem and whipped them.

The Catholic Diocese of Eldoret is considered one of the wealthiest Sees in Kenya.

Which is why it comes as a shock to many that one of its churches — Pope John XXIII — will soon be auctioned to pay a Sh26 million debt.

The church, which sits on 20 acres of prime land, will fall to the auctioneer’s hammer on Tuesday, October 28.

To be auctioned off with the church is a school — Mother of Apostles Seminary — which also trains priests.

The church is being sold because its management failed to repay the Sh26 million outstanding on a loan borrowed from the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC).

Place of worship

It means that hundreds of students will have to stop their studies and thousands of church members left without a place to worship.

The school has about 500 students with 79 candidates for this year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination.

But chances are they might sit for the examinations halfway and be evicted as soon as the school is bought.

After the auction of the church and school land, the new buyer might continue running the school or demolish it altogether.

Besides the Sh26 million debt, a teacher at the school claimed he had not been paid in the past five months. “Children pay school fees and we are wondering why we have not been paid salaries,” said, the teacher who sought anonymity for fear of being victimised by the management.

He wondered why teachers and workers in most institutions in the diocese had not been paid salaries.

Sources said a prime plot adjacent to Sacred Heart Cathedral, which the diocese had bought, was up for sale.

It was bought for about Sh50 million, and some Sh14 million was raised for the development of the plot, which belonged to the defunct Kenya National Assurance company.

The auction will be carried out outside Kenya Commercial Bank on Eldoret town’s Kenyatta Street.

The church’s financial tribulations started in 2005, when it took a loan of Sh12 million from AFC to carry out wheat farming.

The title deed of the church and the school were deposited with the financial institution.

However, the church failed to service the loan and with interest, the debt shot up to about Sh26 million, leading to AFC seeking help from auctioneers to recover the money.

This week, Joyland Auctioneers put an advertisement in the Press, seeking interested buyers for the 20-acre land which is valued at Sh20 million.

The prime land is situated in the plush Elgon View estate, about three kilometres from Eldoret Town.

The assets on the land include the church, which can seat 500 people, houses for priests and a teachers, a convent, classrooms, dining hall, administration block, and dormitories.

Bishop Cornelius Korir on Thursday told our sister paper, the Daily Metro, that there was no cause for panic, because he was optimistic the matter would be resolved.

The General Manager of Joyland Auctioneers, Mr Mbatia Njoroge, who placed the advertisement, also told the Metro that the firm expected good bids because the property was prime.

“So far, three people have confirmed interest but I understand the bishop is working very hard to pay and may just beat the deadline,” he said.

On Friday, the rector of the school — Fr William Kosgei — declined to comment on the issue and referred us to Bishop Korir.

“I am not aware, but all the comments can be obtained from the diocese head,” he said.

AFC managing director Omurembe Iyadi and chairman Patrick Kinyori have sought an appointment with Cardinal John Njue over the issue.

Sources said Bishop Korir had promised AFC that he would table a repayment plan on Monday and called on them to put on hold the auction plan.

If the worst happens and the church and school are auctioned, it will be the end of an era for the institution that has produced some prominent people including former Information and Local Government assistant ministers Koigi Wamwere and Samuel Tarus respectively. Others are Bishop Korir.