After 46 years behind the pulpit, and at the mandatory retirement age of 75 for Catholic priests, Catholic Archbishop of Nairobi Ndingi Mwana a’Nzeki has finally retired.An announcement sent from Rome on Saturday confirmed this.
Ndingi will long be remembered for his long service in the church and his fervent stand on human rights.
In 1969, he was appointed Bishop of Machakos.
But it is as the Bishop of Nakuru that he made a name for himself. Here, he launched a relentless campaign against social injustices.
His influence went beyond matters spiritual.
He is remembered for steering (albeit behind the scenes) the Inter-parties Parliamentary Group (IPPG) negotiations on teachers’ salaries, which resulted to a end of a looming nationwide teachers’ strike.
As the Bishop of Nakuru, Ndingi openly spoke against the tribal clashes that rocked parts of Rift Valley in 1991 to 1992.
He documented information on the clashes and used every means at his disposal, including the media, to bring news of the clashes to world’s attention.
In the rise of politics of pluralism his name was mooted as the compromise candidate to take on retired President Daniel Moi in 1992.
Reforms crusader
However, he fell out with the Opposition when he rejected a boycott of the elections and instead called Kenyans to come out in large numbers and vote.
As a priest, he defied Kamba tradition and family pressure and became celibate, a natural requirement for priesthood in the Catholic Church.
Born on December 25, 1931 in Mwala, Ndingi was ordained as a priest on January 31, 1961.
He went to Mwanyani Primary School near his home in 1942.
The school closed later and he shifted to Kabae Primary School. He was further to move to Etikoi Primary School ten kilometres from his home.
In 1945 he sat for his Common Entrance exam and was admitted to Kabaa Upper Primary Boarding School. He passed his exam and was not sure of a career of choice.
Ndingi says he got to priesthood by chance.
From Kabaa he went to Kilimambogo seminary and sat for his Standard Eight exams and passed the Kenya African Primary teachers College-KAPE. He then went on to Kilimambogo TTC.
He joined a seminary in Moshi, Tanzania for three years. In 1995 he joined St Thomas Seminary in Morogoro, where he studied Theology for four years.
He was ordained as a priest in Kabaa in 1961. In 1969 he was appointed the Bishop of Machakos.
He is one of the longest serving Catholic bishops in Kenya, just third after the late Maurice Cardinal Otunga and Bishop Caesar Gatimu.
Ndingi was then promoted and transferred to Nairobi in 1996. He took the clamour for change a notch higher with demands for constitutional changes.
This was the time for mass action, which led to the setting up of the IPPG.
His most challenging time in service was when Muslims razed Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in South B after a conflict with a section of local residents over a plot dispute.
He has a Bachelors of Arts degree from an American university and had to discontinue his studies in Political Science with his appointment of Bishop in Nairobi.
Ndingi has plans to retire and rest at Little Sisters of St Francis, Kasarani.
He is fervent about celibacy for priests, noting that the sexual scandals that rocked the Catholic Church worldwide are an exception rather than the rule.
Ndingi led Catholic faithful in burning condoms and condemning contraceptives.
Ndingi’s political controversies date back to 1999 when it emerged that some opposition politicians had donated a Mercedes Benz and a Subaru Legacy to him.
Ndingi is to be succeeded by former Coadjutor Archbishop of Nyeri, His Grace John Njue.
Njue takes over
Archbishop John Njue was born in 1944, in Kiriari village, Mukangu in Embu.
He went to school at Gituri Primary School.
He joined the same school for his secondary education.
After he successfully completed his studies in 1966 he was awarded the Cambridge certificate.
Njue always wanted to join priesthood. He enrolled at Rome’s Urbaniana University where he graduated with a Masters degree in Philosophy in 1974.
He served as a Father at the Kariakomu parish in Meru in 1974. He was appointed in 1978 as Professor of Philosophy and Dean of students at the Bungoma based St Augustine Senior Seminary.
He also served as the chairman of the seminary’s Episcopal Commission for major seminaries in Kenya from 1987 to 1991, chairman of Kenya Episcopal Conference Justice and Peace Commission and Chairman Development and Social Services Department at the Kenya Catholic Secretariat.
He was Father in Charge of Chuka parish in 1982.
In January 1985, Njue was appointed the rector of St Josephs philosophical Seminary in Nairobi.
He became the bishop of Embu Diocese in June 1986.
He was consecrated in September the same year.
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