At 41, Maurice Muhatia Makumba becomes not only the youngest Catholic bishop in Kenya, but also the first to be picked from an educational institution to head a diocese.And on Saturday he will be given the mantle to lead a flock of more than 500,000 Catholics in the Nakuru See during a ceremony that President Kibaki is expected to attend.
The Rt Rev Makumba will occupy the position, once held by then firebrand Ndingi Mwana a’Nzeki, the retired Archbishop of Nairobi.
Archbishop Ndingi was a pain in the neck of the Kanu regime, constantly criticising it over its dictatorship tendencies. It was during his time in Nakuru that ethnic clashes were first witnessed in Rift Valley Province.
The archbishop accused the Kanu government of President Moi of instigating the clashes, which devastated several parts of the province, especially Nakuru Diocese.
The See, which comprises the greater Nakuru as well as Baringo, Koibatek, and East Pokot districts, is yet to recover from the mayhem that followed the December 2007 elections. A number of the residents are still living as internally displaced people in camps.
The area has for years battled the ghost of tribal clashes, which rears its ugly head every election year. This is why all eyes will now be on the soft-spoken Makumba, whom the local Catholic faithful and the leadership are looking up to — to see how he tackles the matter. It will be his first time to shepherd such a large flock, and perhaps the first time to find himself facing such a challenge, since he has spent most of his priesthood in the classroom.
According to the Catholic Church tradition, a bishop is picked while shepherding a parish flock or while assisting the diocese head. The Rt Rev Makumba has not handled administrative matters for long, as he himself confirms: “Most of my life as a priest has been in the classroom, except for the short time I was appointed to be in charge of the St Thomas Major Seminary.”
So, who is this bishop-elect appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to head a diocese known for its political sensitivity? This is the question many people are asking as they wait to witness the inauguration at the Nakuru showground. Several other leaders, including Prime Minister Raila Odinga, are listed on the programme as speakers.
Retired president Daniel Moi has confirmed that he, too, will attend. He told the Saturday Nation, through press secretary Lee Njiru, that he had rescheduled a political rally he was to attend in Nyahururu to witness the occasion. Fr Makumba who, until his appointment, was in charge of St Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Nairobi, becomes the third bishop of the diocese created in 1968.
Archbishop Ndingi was succeeded by the Rev Peter Kairo, now the head of the Nyeri Archdiocese. Nyeri had for a while been headed by John Cardinal Njue following the death of Archbishop Nicodemus Kirima. John Njue was moved to Nairobi to succeed Archbishop Ndingi. He was later made a cardinal but remains the head of the Nairobi Archdiocese.
Fr Makumba was born at Lirhanda village, Kakamega District, in 1968. After completing secondary school at St Charles Lwanga, he joined St Mary’s Major Seminary. He then went to Rome, Italy, where he obtained a bachelors degree at Urbaniana Pontifican University and a masters in philosophy at Pontifical Holy Cross University. He was ordained priest on October 15, 1994.
Without the advantage of the vast experience enjoyed by his two predecessors, how will the new bishop address the problems of the magnitude of tribal clashes? “Tribal clashes, whether politically instigated or not, are an evil thing and my focus will be to preach and reconcile the diverse communities in my diocese,” he said. Nakuru, he added, plays an important role in the country’s cohesion because of its diversity as all the 42 Kenyan tribes are represented there.
“Nakuru residents are a mirror to the rest of the country and these are the people who should first and foremost lead the way by living peacefully.” He said there was a need for civic education for people to be aware that politicians were only using them when they incite them to fight their neighbours.
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