Uhuru orders restoration of all land grabbed from church schools

Uhuru orders restoration of all land grabbed from church schools

President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered the Education and Lands Ministries to revoke title deeds of all grabbed land belonging to church owned schools.

Kenyatta also directed the Ministry of Education to restore Church sponsorship of schools which traditionally used to be under the ministry’s care.

“The Ministry of Education, I want you restore that sponsorship back and secondly you have one week in which to restore all church-owned school land to their rightful owners,” said Kenyatta.

“That is the least we can do to honor this legend lying here before us.”

The president was speaking at the requiem mass of the late Archbishop Emeritus of Mombasa, John Njega held at the University of Nairobi grounds.

He gave the directive on church schools to honour the memory of the late Archbishop who passed away on November 4, 2018 after a short illness.

Archbishop Njenga is hailed for his visionary leadership through which he worked to improve education standards in the country as demonstrated by the many schools he started.

The President said the government would also start to engage more closely with religious organisations to enforce better morality among school children.

“Church-sponsored schools must be allowed to mentor our children. Look at the level of indsiclipline in our schools, it tells you there is something missing in their lives,” he said.

“I assure you that we must restore the chaplaincy so that we can mentor and spiritually guide our children from the very early days. This is a must and we shall do it.”

On his part, Deputy President William Ruto, described Archbishop Njenga as “a selfless Kenyan, a visionary leader and a committed Bishop.”

The DP said the Archbishop has an exemplary track record of starting close to 50 schools in regions surrounding Eldoret, where he served as a Bishop from 1970 to 1988.

The Deputy President said the Archbishop was a man who would always choose what was going to help others instead of what would benefit him personally.

Former Vice President Moody Awori, who was a classmate of Archbishop Emeritus John Njenga, also spoke at the funeral service.

The Most Rev Njenga, regarded as a selfless man who was always ready to serve the Country and the Church, passed on at the age of 90  and was given the rare honour of being interred inside the Holy Family Basilica, Nairobi.

He was born on December 25, 1928 in Tigoni and attended Mang’u High School. He was ordained as a priest at Kibosho Major Seminary in Tanzania in 1957.

In 1970, he was made the Bishop of Eldoret and transferred to Mombasa in 1988 where he became Archbishop in 1990.

From 1976 to 1982, Archbishop Njenga was the Chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops  formerly the Kenya Episcopal Conference.

Additional reporting by PSCU

Tags:

Moody Awori Archbishop John Njenga

Want to send us a story? Submit on Wananchi Reporting on the Citizen Digital App or Send an email to wananchi@royalmedia.co.ke or Send an SMS to 25170 or WhatsApp on 0743570000

Leave a Comment

Comments

No comments yet.

latest stories