Charles Kamiri Itegi
By WMW
Worth Noting:
- The seven were; Sospeter Nguru, Peterson Ngumo, Charles Itegi, Isaac Wanjii, Gerald Muriithi, Edwin Mbiiri and Samuel Waweru.
- At the end of the day, the team settled on Itegi, Waweru and Muriithi as the clerymen who would go to the final lap of seeking to head the diocese whose jurisdiction includes Nyeri County and parts of Laikipia and Isiolo counties with hundreds of thousands of faithful.
- Sources told this publication that Rev. Itegi emerged top out of the seven who were vetted and is widely expected to convince the 23 Electoral College delegates to elect him next month.
- The process of electing a new Bishop began three months ago after a protracted court battle that lasted several months.
The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) is set to get a new Bishop who will be in charge of Mt Kenya West Diocese.
As per the Church constitution, delegates are set to meet and elect a new Bishop on February 8 at the diocese headquarters in Nyeri town.
This move follows the vetting and nominations exercise that ended over the weekend.
When the seat fell vacant following the retirement of Bishop Kagunda on April 14 last year.
When his retirement day approached, 11 people declared their interest to succeed him. Consequently, the church shortlisted 7 clerymen who were last Saturday vetted by a team led by the church’s Mombasa diocese head, Bishop Alphonse Mwaro Baya.
The seven were; Sospeter Nguru, Peterson Ngumo, Charles Itegi, Isaac Wanjii, Gerald Muriithi, Edwin Mbiiri and Samuel Waweru.
At the end of the day, the team settled on Itegi, Waweru and Muriithi as the clerymen who would go to the final lap of seeking to head the diocese whose jurisdiction includes Nyeri County and parts of Laikipia and Isiolo counties with hundreds of thousands of faithful.
Sources told this publication that Rev. Itegi emerged top out of the seven who were vetted and is widely expected to convince the 23 Electoral College delegates to elect him next month.
The process of electing a new Bishop began three months ago after a protracted court battle that lasted several months.
In October, the head of the church in the country, Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit, under High Court orders, was mandated to initiate the election process by November 13 last year.
Justice Kizito Magare had directed the church to adhere strictly to its constitution in the election process. He made the orders in a case where the church through the Archbishop had been sued by one of the faithful; Pharis Mwangi for allegedly breaching some rules and regulations on election of a new bishop.
Following the orders, on November 16, the diocesan chancellor, Lay Canon Edward Wachira, distributed nomination forms to synod delegates at St Peter’s Cathedral, Nyeri where the delegates had about 30 days to return the forms, as stipulated by the church’s constitution.
Each candidate was expected to secure nominations from at least five synod members, consisting of three clergy and two lay leaders, or vice versa.
The 23-member electoral college comprises of 16 diocesan representatives and 7 from the province will convene at St Peter’s Cathedral Nyeri to select the new bishop.
Bishop Kagunda’s retirement follows a tenure marked by leadership conflicts and legal battles, including a high-profile court case involving three priests accused of homosexuality.
In the case, Mwangi, a faithful at the Nyeri Cathedral church had moved to court seeking orders to compel the respondents to adhere to the ACK Constitution.
In the lawsuit, Archbishop Ole Sapit, the Provincial synod, ACK Mt Kenya West synod and the registered trustees of the ACK were named as respondents respectively. Retired bishop Kagunda had been named as an interested party. They were represented by lawyers Elias Masika and Wachira Nderitu.
Justice Magare, in his orders, struck out the retired bishop as an interested party in the matter.
Mr Mwangi in his sworn affidavit dated February 27, told the court that the respondents had failed to commence election process of the new bishop that was supposed to be undertaken on March 15 in accordance to the ACK Constitution
“…. that unless this honourable court intervenes urgently by granting the orders sort for the first instance, the respondents are likely to advance the acts of impunity by illegally failing to adhere to the ACK Constitution in filling the position held by the interested party (Mr Kagunda),” Mr Mwangi told the court.
“This is likely to throw ACK Diocese of Mt Kenya West leadership into anarchy resulting in possible exposure of its entire membership into suffering irreparable prejudices which cannot be adequately compensated by way of damages,” he added.
Mr Mwangi was presented in court by Nyeri based lawyer Stanley Wabandi Gacheru.
Archbishop Ole Sapit appointed Murang’a South diocese bishop Julius Karanu as a commissary to oversee operations of Mt Kenya West diocese before the election of the new bishop is held.
During retired bishop Kagunda’s 20-years tenure, the diocese was marked with chaos and conflict that saw congregants exchange blows over leadership wrangles.
He was in the spotlight when he engaged in a court battle with three priests from the church who were expelled for allegedly practicing homosexuality.
President William Ruto, in a gazette notice dated October 3, appointed retired bishop Kagunda as the chairperson of the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya.
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