Kericho gifted church worth Sh260 million

Where in Kenya can you put up a quarter-billion-shilling church building without fund-raising?

The answer is hidden in the highlands of Kericho, known for lush tea plantations.

Here, a building estimated to cost at least $3 million (Sh260m) is taking shape, funded by a sole foreign donor who wants his identity kept secret.
The cathedral is the seat of the Kericho Roman Catholic diocese headed by Bishop Emmanuel Okombo Wandera, 71.

As you drive to Kericho town from Nakuru along the Nakuru-Londiani-Kericho highway, you come across the imposing cathedral under construction five minutes’ drive into the town.
Visible from miles away, even before it is completed, the church building is set to change the look of Kericho town and its environs.

The cathedral being built by Nairobi-based Esteel Construction, among other companies, is the first of its kind in Kericho and the entire South Rift region.
It will be able to seat at least 1,500 and will replace an old building that has been decaying over the years. 

Work began in February 2012 and was projected to take one year. However, it has stretched on a little longer but the chatedral is expected to be completed before the close of the year.
Bishop Okombo declined to comment on the status of the construction. He told Sunday Nation he would only release the details once the work was over. The bishop was also tight-lipped on the identity of the donor.

However, a diocesan official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the construction had taken much longer than had been expected.
The church was due to be opened officially in December last year but this has been rescheduled to May this year. However, even this might be an ambitious target. Our visit to the site indicated a lot still needed to be done.  

John McAslan + Partners, the lead architect of the church, told www.urbanrealm.com. that the building was inspired by Scottish architecture but was done in a way that reflects the cultural dynamism of the Kipsigis, their natural panorama of the highlands in the Kericho environment, and spirit of the Catholic community in the locality.
“The architectural challenge was to ensure the cathedral embodied Catholic liturgy and embraced its local congregation in a way that reflected both the historic gravitas of the faith and the special qualities of its location and its community — a response which must make the cathedral both unique, and yet universally welcoming,” Peter McLaughlin of John McAslan + Partners told the on-line publication.
Kericho, approximately 250 kilometres from Nairobi, lies in the highlands west of the Great Rift Valley where a magnificent view of tea plantations and surrounding hills leaves a lasting impression.
Once completed, the new cathedral will be an additional attraction apart from providing a place of worship.  

Mr McLaughlin said that the bishop asked them to design a cathedral with the altar and the congregation as a wider expression of the family at its domestic table.“At its heart our approach was intended to provide a distinct landmark for the locale rooted in the African vernacular of construction and materiality,” Mr McLaughlin told the website.

He continued: “It was also intended to fully satisfy Bishop Okombo’s ambition to create an intimate and direct physical and visual connection between the congregation and the altar, ensuring maximum participation in the celebration of the Mass and the Act of The Eucharist,”

He said throughout history Catholic cathedrals have been based on two principle plan forms: the Latin cross, with its extended nave and transepts, and the Greek cross with a centralised plan and altar. Modern interpretations of these two patterns of worship have all attempted to overcome the distance between the congregations and the altar in order to improve participation in the church service.

The design development involved a unique further adaption of this transition where the bishop and his attendants speak directly and intimately to the congregation.“In a very real sense the roof symbolises the role of the church in the community, it is the sheltering environment that sustains and supports the family of believers. The resulting bird-like form of the main roof and transepts is also representative of the Holy Spirit,” the architect added.

Huge
A church official, who also indicated he was not authorized to speak to the media, said even though there was excitement, the challenge for the church community of Kericho Diocese is the maintenance of the structure after the donor hands it over.

“The church is huge. Maintaining it once it is complete will require millions of shillings each year. But it is a symbol of development for the Catholic Church,” said the church official.
Bishop Okombo is the second to be posted to the Kericho Diocese since it was started in 1995. He was appointed in 2003 after his predecessor, Bishop Philip Anyolo, was transferred to head the Homabay Diocese. Kericho was carved out of the Diocese of Nakuru on December 6, 1995. It has grown from two deaneries — Kericho and Bomet— and 10 parishes to four deaneries and 26 parishes.