• Schooled after his father was threatened with a fine, he went on to be a pillar of society
• He championed education and stood up against injustices in the dreaded Nyayo era
Image: FILE
The diminutive physique of the late Archbishop Raphael Ndingi Mwana a’Nzeki could fool many people into thinking he was a pushover who could be cowed into silence.
Woe unto such people who had this misperception of the Mwala-born Catholic priest. Archbishop Mwanaa’Nzeki, who died yesterday aged 89, was a man who would not hesitate to roar against any injustices in the society, regardless of the stature of those he was up against.
His roar, however, was tactical and laced with wisdom designed to guilt-trip his targets into reconsidering their wrong actions without inciting the public against them.
In 1992, he had heard enough and witnessed first-hand the tribulations of thousands of Molo residents displaced by tribal clashes. The then bishop of Nakuru diocese castigated the provincial administration for its complicity in the tribal skirmishes that reportedly claimed the lives of 2,000 people.
“We had to go to Molo and there we found various victims with arrows in their bodies. He could not take it anymore and broke down wailing,” Fr Stephen Mbugua, his close friend for decades, said in a previous interview.
His strongly-worded pastoral letter in mid-March 1992 reverberated across many churches in which it was read.
This was not the only time he found himself in the cross-hairs of the Moi regime, which was at the time unforgiving to anyone who dared challenge its authority.
As the cries for the repeal of section 2(a) of the constitution reached a crescendo, the establishment of the day clamped hard on the advocates for multiparty democracy.
The tense environment notwithstanding, Archbishop Mwanaa’Nzeki did not hesitate to stand on the right side of history by supporting the calls for an enhanced space for freedom of speech.
Fr Ndikaruwa Teresia, Catholic Chaplain and Senior Lecturer at the Technical University of Kenya, praised his activism. “Archbishop Ndingi was instrumental in supporting victims of political clampdown,” he said.
"He once helped the late Nobel Laureate Prof Wangari Maathai evade arrest and assassination for her opposition to the grabbing of public land."
PASSION FOR PRIESTHOOD
His brushes with the government and condemnation of its actions might portray Archbishop Mwanaa’Nzeki as anti-establishment.
However, those who know him personally understand that he was a man who believed priesthood was a calling from God to uplift the needy and downtrodden in the society.
“He could not stand to see people suffering, and thus, his mission in life was to end their pain. He was unflinching in taking on their oppressors,” Fr Mbugua says.
Born in 1931 in Mwala, Machakos county, Archbishop Mwanaa’Nzeki always knew he wanted to be a priest.
After completing his primary school education, he was recruited into the Kiserian Seminary, from where the journey to his decade-long reign at the helm of the Catholic Church began.
At the age of 29, he was an ordained a priest in Nairobi, a title he held for eight years before he was appointed as the bishop of Machakos Diocese on May 29, 1969.
Three months later, he was ordained as a bishop by Pope John Paul VI in a ceremony at Kololo Terrace in Kampala.
Two years later, he was off to Nakuru to serve as the bishop of the local diocese, from where he would gain national limelight for his outspokenness against injustices.
“For many weeks, Bishop Ndingi welcomed displaced families and accommodated them at Christ the King Cathedral in Nakuru,” Fr Ndikaruwa Teresia says.
His 25-year stint in Nakuru came to end in 1996 with his deployment to Nairobi as a coadjutor to Cardinal Maurice Otunga, the then Archbishop of Nairobi.
One year later, he had ascended to the highest seat of the Catholic Church after succeeding Cardinal Otunga — a post he held for a decade.
PASSION FOR EDUCATION
Throughout his life, Archbishop Mwanaa’Nzeki was not all talk and no action.
His contribution to the education sector set the platform for the establishment and growth of various secondary schools in Kenya that have moulded some of the brightest minds in the country.
In the 1960s, as the national education secretary representing the Kenya Episcopal Conference, he successfully championed for the addition of form five and six classes (A levels) at the Loreto Girls High School, Limuru.
Sr Colombiere Kelly, who was the principal of Loreto High School for 25 years, said in a past interview, “The Ministry of Education authorities were reluctant to grant us A levels classes although that was a prerequisite for whoever wanted to join university.
"Fr Ndingi adamantly insisted that we had to be granted the A levels based on our school’s exceptional performance in the O levels.”
It is with this passion that he successfully lobbied for the addition of A levels to Mang’u High School.
Having tasted the delicious fruits of education, it was little wonder that Archbishop Mwanaa’Nzeki would be so passionate about education.
Were it not for a local chief threatening to fine his father, he would probably have never stepped foot into a classroom.
The threat hanging over his father’s head, a lot was cast, which fell on the young Mwanaa’Nzeki and kickstarted his education journey.
After sitting for his Cambridge School Certificate as a private candidate, he proceeded for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History at St John Fisher College in Rochester, New York.
SERVANT LEADERSHIP
He did not, however, lord his education over others, but saw it as a tool to serve those commended to him by virtue of his positions within the church.
Fr Lawrence Njoroge, Archbishop Mwanaa’Nzeki’s administrative secretary between 1998 and 2001, said, “He invested heavily in the education of his priests and other people, for whom he sought resources and opportunities to improve their training in various professions."
A believer in lifelong learning, Archbishop Mwanaa’Nzeki looked beyond educational credentials when he ordained experienced catechist Fr Joseph Mlengera to priesthood, despite the latter having little formal education.
At the risk of incurring criticism of many within the Catholic Church, Archbishop Mwanaa’Nzeki ordained Fr Patrick Lang’at, a person living with disabilities.
Other personalities within the Catholic Church that were ordained by him include Archbishop Peter J Kairo (1983), Archbishop Martin KivuvaMusonde (2003), Bishop Urbanus Joseph Kioko (1973) and the current Archbishop of Nairobi, John Cardinal Njue (1986).
LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT
He may have retired from priesthood, but Archbishop Mwanaa’Nzeki did not retire from servanthood.
In October 2007, he was appointed by then President Mwai Kibaki as chair of the advisory board of the Humanitarian Funds for Victims of Post-election Violence.
At his retirement home — although he was grappling with memory loss attributable to dementia — Archbishop Mwanaa’Nzeki would still warmly receive visitors and even offer prayers for them.
His servant leadership is one that the current crop of leaders would do well to emulate and perhaps strive to surpass.
“The late prelate was a loving and outstanding man of God, whose servant leadership shall be missed by Kenyans,” President Uhuru Kenyatta said in his condolence message.
These words – and indeed tributes pouring from other quarters – capture the magnitude of Archbishop Mwanaa’Nzeki’s contribution to the church and growth of Kenya as a country.