Ndingi: Small-framed prelate who stood tall, giant above all others

When the young Raphael Ndingi left his home in Mwala in the early 1950s to join the seminary, his polygamous father Mzee Joseph Nzeki Ngala, a blacksmith, told the lad: "My son, go to them (missionaries) and if they reject you, just come back home tukube kiveti (we shall give you a wife) and you can settle down".

But this was not to be. For the next half a century, Ndingi became one of the most prolific and controversial preachers in Kenya and beyond. Like John the Baptist, he preached in the wilderness, becoming a lone voice of reason in the midst of political intolerance and the mouthpiece of the down trodden.

Archbishop Raphael Samuel Ndingi Mwana a'Nzeki, who is being buried today at the Holy Family Basilica, trotted the globe as an outstanding Catholic prelate who fearlessly preached what he believed in, even when everybody else was on the opposite side.

At the height of politically instigated tribal clashes in the Rift Valley in 1992 and 1997, Ndingi's voice was loud and clear, telling Moi that, even though he was the President, he did not have the monopoly of knowledge. At the time, Kanu was the ruling party and nobody dared challenge it.

But Ndingi had the guts and he was quickly followed by Bishop Henry Okullu of the Anglican Diocese of Maseno South, Bishop David Gitari of the Anglican diocese of Mount Kenya and Bishop Alexander Kipsang Muge of the Anglican diocese of Eldoret.

I was Ndingi's alter boy in 1971 when he became the first African Bishop of the Catholic diocese of Nakuru that covered the expansive districts of Nakuru, Kericho and Baringo. Together with my mother and my siblings, we became the first family that Ndingi got to know in the diocese.

When Ndingi left Nakuru in 1996 to become the Coadjutor Archbishop of Nairobi, my late mother, Virginia Njeri Muroki, went to his office at the then Holy Rosary Church (now Christ the King Cathedral) and gave him the title deed of a piece of land that we had donated to the church. To date, on that one-acre plot stands St Andrew's Catholic Church Wanyororo Parish.

For the 25 years that Ndingi was the Bishop of Nakuru, he was the most outspoken cleric in Kenya. When he moved to Nakuru on January 1, 1972, there were only five parishes and by the time he was leaving, this figure had grown to 46.

The diocese had also been split into two creating a new diocese of Kericho. When he came in all the priests were missionaries, mostly from the Patrician Missionaries of St Patricks in Ireland. By the time he was leaving, there were 45 African priests and many religious nuns and brothers. He established St Joseph's Minor Seminary in Molo to mould young men wishing to go into the priesthood.

As he is being laid to rest today, many people would have wished to give him a grand send off. He touched the lives of many and changed others in many ways. It is important to note that Ndingi is actually a priest of the Archdiocese of Nairobi. So he is not just being buried at the Basilica because he served and retired as the Archbishop of Nairobi, but he was actually a priest of the Archdiocese, having been ordained in 1961, by the then Archbishop of Nairobi, the late JJ McCarthy.

Ndingi was born on Christmas Day in 1931 in Mwala location of Machakos District to Joseph Ngila and Mary Muthoki. He attended Myanyani Primary School from 1942 but had to leave for Kabaa after the school closed down for lack of pupils. He went to Kabaa between 1943 and 1944 but left again for Etikoni Primary School, because Kabaa did not have enough pupils, and was also closed down.

After sitting for his Common Entrance Examination, Ndingi, who at one time hoped to become a doctor, got into Kabaa Intermediate School where he studied for two years before joining Kilimambogo Junior Seminary in 1948, where he sat for his Kenya African Primary Education (KAPE) exams. In line with that period's prejudices against Africans, he was not allowed to join form one because, at 17 years old, he was considered 'too old', and was therefore recommended to join Kilimambogo Teachers College. He was there between 1949 and 1950 when he graduated with a P3 certificate.

He was admitted to the minor seminary in 1951 and, in 1953, he went to study philosophy at Kibosho Major Seminary in Tanganyika. He returned to Kenya in 1956 and went to teach at Kiserian Junior Seminary. In 1957, went to study theology at St Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Morogoro, Arusha, He returned to Kenya in 1960 and was ordained into the priesthood on January 1, 1961 at Kabaa Catholic Mission.

Ndingi was then posted to work at Our Lady of Visitation Catholic Parish in Makadara, Nairobi, where he served for one year as the assistant parish priest. In 1962, he was posted to St Peter Claver's, where he was now the Father-in-Charge. While at St Peter's, he was also given the responsibility of preparing Catholic church radio programmes aired on the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation. He was at the same time assistant Secretary for education for Catholic schools in Kiambu.

At the beginning of 1963, Ndingi was transferred to Tala Catholic Mission. He requested permission to study for his school certificate, which he did between 1962 and 1964. Shortly after completing his examinations, he was appointed secretary-general to Catholic schools in the whole country, where he played a crucial role during the transfer of the management of mission schools from the church and private institutions to the government.

In 1967, he went to the United States of America to study history and political science. He returned in June 1969 and was immediately appointed bishop of Machakos. He was consecrated by Pope Paul VI on June 3, 1969, in Kampala, Uganda, on the occasion of the Canonisation of the Uganda Martyrs. There were 12 African bishops including excommunicated former Archbishop of Lusaka, Zambia, Emmanuel Milingo.

One of Ndingi's many controversies was his name. Even the local media did not know how to refer to him. Was he Archbishop Ndingi, Archbishop Nzeki, or Archbishop Mwana a'Nzeki?
Were he to become Cardinal, how would he be addressed? Cardinals are by the Church tradition, addressed by their surnames. That is why we say John Cardinal Njue, and not Cardinal John Njue. Would Ndingi become Cardinal Nzeki or Cardinal Mwana a'Nzeki?

He told me this questions had been raised many times at the Vatican. So how did Ndingi become Mwana a'Nzeki? He was the fifth born child in a polygamous family. He was baptised by an Irish missionary, Rev Father John Kavanagh. Over time, young Ndingi came to like the priest by dint of his frequent visits to the parish, and the two grew fiercely fond of each other.

Years later, when he became a priest, Fr Kavanagh looked at the young man and told him: "Raphael, son of Nzeki, I will now be calling you Mwana a'Nzeki." Ndingi liked the name, especially because it also denoted his African roots. And from that day, he adopted the name.
And that is Ndingi for you, the diminutive prelate who towered tall above all others.

Fare Thee Well. Rest in Eternal Peace, Servant of God, Raphael Samuel Ndingi Mwana a'Nzeki.
Francis Muroki is a veteran Catholic journalist and a journalism lecturer at the Tangaza University College in Nairobi. [email protected]