When John Njue took over as the cardinal and archbishop of Nairobi, many priests defied him to his face and rejected his leadership approach and agenda.
It was late 2007 and the open rebellion, mistrust and disrespect would persist until 2009, when there was a thawing and semi-truce.
Njue had a different way of doing things. He also proposed a raft of changes in the management of parishes and dioceses in the county but the priests would hear none of it.
According to a biography of the Cardinal written by journalist Waithaka Waihenya, Njue pushed to cap the remuneration of priests at Sh10,000, no matter where they served.
Secondly, he wanted the money parishes contributed to the archdiocese to be increased from five to 30 per cent.
Further, Njue wanted a family day introduced in every parish in the diocese, as in other dioceses, where families would pray and bring contributions for the archdiocese.
The book says Njue, unlike his predecessor Ndingi Mwana A’Nzeki, had the habit of walking into parishes unannounced when priests were celebrating mass. He joined the congregants.
In most instances, he would walk in and go straight to the confessional. The faithful would be distracted from mass and would go to the Cardinal to confess their sins.
He also stripped parish heads of any power to initiate or oversee any projects.
The priests objected to these proposals and his practices.
“This was very disconcerting to many priests," the book quotes one priest as saying.
"We honestly felt that the Cardinal was spying on us. Why would he not have the courtesy to tell us that he would be visiting our parish? It was only fair he informed us whenever he wanted to visit our parishes,” he said.
To sell his vision as he got to work, Njue organised a meeting with about 70 priests at Holy Family Minor Basilica that turned angry and priests read the Cardinal the riot act.
“The priests went ballistic,” the book says.
“To some, that was a wild idea, impractical and ill-informed. It set out confrontation between the clergy and the Cardinal,” it adds.
“One missionary priest reportedly stood up and asked, “Your Eminence, this is a wild idea. Where in the world have you ever heard of a government that raised taxes from five per cent to 30 per cent? This is like wanting to jump over River Nile,” he said.
The priests resisted the increased contribution, demanding that 'if the Cardinal wanted to construct something or had a project, he should ask the parishes to contribute in a one-off system,' but not the consistent steeped contribution.
Njue remained undeterred, insisting that the priests must be frugal and not concerned with money or personal property issues.
“If you serve the people well, you will never be in want of anything,” the Cardinal argued.
However, the priests would hear none of it, one of them telling him their standards of life were different and saying, "You can’t come to Nairobi and change our lives drastically.”
You say we should only be paid Sh10,000. The suit I am wearing is worth Sh200,000 and the dry cleaning fee is Sh10,000. What will we eat?”
The following month, the Cardinal organised another meeting with the priests in Thika but it turned even more incendiary.
Even more shocking was a young priest Njue had ordained in his first official act in Nairobi. He told him Nairobi was not his Embu village.
“I know you are the bishop but we cannot allow one person from Kianjokoma, a village in Embu, to come and divide us. You will not divide us. You are going to disrupt our lives,” the greenhorn priest said.
His peers later admonished him quietly.
Another priest asked Njue, “Your Eminence, you are saying that we should be paid only Sh10,000 monthly. The suit I am wearing is worth Sh200,000 and the dry cleaning fee is Sh10,000. What will we eat?”
In the free-for-all meeting, yet another priest shot up and addressed him, “Your Eminence, you are telling us we cannot start even a simple project in the parish without permission from your office.
"We cannot build a toilet? What is the role of a parish priest? Is it that you cannot trust us to run our parishes and handle finances?”
“Nairobi is not Embu,” another clergy told him. “You will realize that whereas you were using Sh100 for a haircut, you will be spending Sh1,000 in Nairobi. Don't touch our allowances.”
As a counter-proposal, the priests would agree to have the Cardinal institute his family day, raise the amount of contribution to the archdiocese by the parishes and any other demand, but not touch their earnings.
Njue settled for this proposal, and peace reigned.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
