Archbishop denies corruption claims

Kisumu Catholic Archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth Thursday dismissed claims that he embezzled money belonging to the church.

The allegations were not only baseless but also questionable in the way the information was sourced, he said.

Rev Okoth said the illegal interception of a parcel, as was the case of the documents used by the media to highlight the alleged corruption in the church, amounted to a breach of international law.

He said the church’s documents were intercepted while on transit to the Apostolic Nuncio’s office in Nairobi, before they were doctored maliciously.
According to media reports, the archbishop had been accused by various parish officials, ordained brothers and priests in the Kisumu Archdiocese of presiding over corruption in the church.

Some of the allegations included accounting for non-existent projects as well as diversion of funds from the church’s coffers to individuals’ accounts.

WRONG PICTURE
Rev Okoth made the statement at a press conference at Ukweli Pastoral Centre in Kisumu Town, in the presence of vicars, priests and members of the congregation of the Catholic Church.

The clergyman said the media equally used a wrong picture to illustrate the corruption allegations.

“Before claiming that funds for the new and ongoing projects have been swindled, the least the media should have done was to check and verify whether the said funds were received in the first place,” he said.

Rev Okoth assured the catholic fraternity that none of the funds received by the Archdiocese of Kisumu were swindled.

“I categorically reject the media reports as inaccurate, unreliable and misleading.

“The office of the archbishop is not guilty of any wrongdoing,” the clergyman said.

He said that he had forgiven his accusers as well as those behind the scheme to tarnish his name.