ACK global head in Kenya for All Saints Cathedral fete

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will on Sunday join Anglicans in the country to mark the culmination of the first centenary celebrations of All Saints Cathedral.

The symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican communion is already in the country and yesterday met President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi, where he urged Kenyans to maintain peace.

“I encourage Kenyans to reconcile, maintain peace and remain united,” said Archbishop Welby, according to a statement from the Presidential Strategic Communications Unit.

It is the second time this year that Archbishop Welby is visiting Kenya, having also been in the country in February at the beginning of the celebrations to mark the church’s 100th anniversary.
CELEBRATIONS

The Cathedral Provost Sammy Wainaina said President Kenyatta is expected to attend the celebrations. The President and Archbishop Welby will plant a tree within the compound before the event.

The service is scheduled to start at 10am. “Within the service, we will launch the cathedral history, the Cathedral Strategic Plan 2017-2022 and the Cathedral Centenary Project which is a Children and Teens Centre,” Mr Wainaina said.

The cathedral acts as the headquarters of the Anglican province in Kenya as well as a diocese of the Anglican church in Kenya with Archbishop Jackson ole Sapit also the bishop of the diocese.

President Kenyatta’s office, meanwhile, said he emphasised his vision to see “a united and prosperous Kenya, an all-inclusive nation where all Kenyans have equal opportunity to achieve their potential”.

DRAMA

On October 12, amid the drama and acrimony that characterised the October 26 repeat presidential election, Nasa leader Raila Odinga met Archbishop Welby in the Windsor Suite at Heathrow Airport, where discussions focused on the political situation in Kenya.

At the time, Mr Odinga had withdrawn from the repeat election.

“Spiritual guidance is of utmost importance at this juncture in our nation’s history. I valued greatly the wise counsel that Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and the principal leader of the Anglican Church, imparted when I paid a courtesy call on him,” Mr Odinga wrote on his Facebook page.

Mr Odinga was in London to give a lecture at Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House).

Following the meeting, Archbishop Welby said: “As politically neutral and spiritually concerned, I was privileged to spend time with and pray for HE Raila Odinga this morning.

I called for actions and leadership that put the whole people of Kenya first, seeking peace and blessing on that great country.”

All Saints Cathedral is not just a national landmark in Nairobi but has in the years past been a refuge to the pro-democracy activists who were escaping the State tyranny.

Among those who found refuge at the cathedral were former President Mwai Kibaki and Prof Wangari Maathai.