Archdeacon who fought church hierarchy and won

If there is one incident that better wrapped up the rocky affairs in the Anglican Church, then it was the daring action by the then Church of the Province of Kenya (CPK) Mt Elgon archdeacon Eliud Okiring to lead a fierce struggle for the creation of the Katakwa Diocese in early 1990s.

Okiring’s acolytes were mainly his fellow Iteso ethnic group who felt that their continued stay in the Nambale Diocese was no longer tenable because of what he termed the continued use of abusive and dismissive language by “Luhya brothers and sisters in Christ” in the diocese.

The height of the struggle was between 1986 and 1991 when the Katakwa faithful camped at the All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi and went on a hunger strike. At that point Archbishop Manasses Kuria was left with no option but to grant Katakwa a full diocese with Okiring as the first bishop until his retirement in 2006. He died in 2012.

INTERESTING INCIDENT

Even after the name was changed from CPK to the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), it seems the name was not a full baptism where a new convert not only acquires a name but is also expected to change some of the old ways. For the Anglicans it was still a rose by any other name and the fights went on.

After Archbishop Kuria died, Bishop David Gitari took over the reins in an acting capacity and he also got a taste of the abundant gift of drama that flowed freely within the church. In ‘Troubled But Not Destroyed - The Autobiography of Archbishop David Gitari’, the former prelate narrates an interesting incident:

“I accepted an invitation to induct Simon Oriedo as the Vicar of St Faith Church, Ongata Rongai, in the diocese of Kajiado. Bernard Njoroge – who had been elected but not yet consecrated as bishop – organised young people to stop me from performing the ceremony. When I entered the church leading a long procession of clergy from Kajiado, Kirinyaga and Nairobi, there was a scuffle in the church and one priest was hit with a chair and bled profusely.

“Bernard lay prostrate on the holy table and I watched in shock as he asked me to beat him up. The police came in time to restore peace. I inducted Rev Simon Oriedo as the new parish priest, preached and administered Holy Communion. Meanwhile, Bernard was taken to Mater Hospital, where he told the dailies that I hit him with the Holy Staff, a claim that was totally false.”

TWO CHOICES

Njoroge was later to quit the ACK and join the Charismatic Episcopal Church of Kenya. Information on the church’s website says: at present, in addition to being the Bishop of the Diocese of Nairobi, Bishop Njoroge is the General Secretary for Kenya and Tanzania and Assistant Legate for the Patriarch for all of Africa. He is also a member of the Patriarch’s Council representing Africa.”

Another man who felt miffed enough to quit the Anglican Church was Archdeacon Joseph Weswa of Bungoma Diocese. After the incumbent Eliud Wabukala was named the archbishop and moved to Nairobi, the people of Bungoma were given two choices – Rev Michumo and Archdeacon Weswa.

Talking to those in the know, it seems Weswa was the frontrunner and when the results came out showing that Michumo had carried the day, a thoroughly tiffed Weswa broke away.

Then there was the Mt Kenya Central ACK Diocese that was placed under the watch of the Anglican Church headquarters after wrangles frustrated the election of a new bishop. The diocese was placed under a commissary bishop after the election aborted due to complaints from 11 candidates that the process was flawed.

At the top of grievances was the role of the Search Committee in the process of getting a new bishop. This is a committee formed by the archbishop and is comprised of six members from the diocese and a further six from various part of the country.

The Principal of Bishop Hannington Institute, Rev Martin Olando says that the issue of Search Committee has been contentious for a very long time: “I am aware that some brethren are proposing an amendment to the church’s constitution to have the Search Committee abolished. If it is the opinion of the majority in the church then chances are the committee shall be done away with,” he says.