Control of prime property at heart of NCCK wrangles
Questions over the multimillion-shilling assets of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) are likely to influence members’ decisions during the organisation’s meeting today.
On Wednesday, it emerged the wrangling over the election of General Secretary Canon Peter Karanja’s successor is linked to the control of the organisation’s properties.
The NCCK, an umbrella organisation of protestant churches, owns the three-star Jumuia hotels in Mombasa, Nakuru and Kisumu, and Tumaini House in Nairobi’s Central Business District.
QUESTIONS
The council also co-owns Ufungamano House in Nairobi with the Catholic Church and Jumuia in Limuru, as well as the building that houses its headquarters off Lenana Road.
The NCCK also has a stream of daily income from the Jumuia hospitals it runs in Kakamega, Kaimosi and Huruma, Nairobi.
The general secretary has a say on the day-to-day running of the hotels and properties, whose income runs into tens of millions of shillings every year.
And as members prepared to converge in Limuru to try and resolve the stalemate following the controversial election of Chris Kinyanjui as the new general secretary about two months ago, questions have emerged as to how the organisation’s properties have been managed.
Some members accuse Canon Karanja of influencing the election of his successor to avoid the questions.
Among the issues raised is the purchase of an expansive parcel of land in Limuru and the sale of a prime seven-acre parcel of land in Buru Buru, Nairobi.
Questions have also been raised about NCCK’s remittance of statutory deductions from employees’ salaries.
The NCCK boss declined our request to address the issues and clarify the matters.
“Just write the story with the information you have, I’m in a meeting. There is no comment from me,” he said.
When we insisted, he curtly added, “I have a meeting tomorrow and that is where my agenda is. The matter is in public. Delegates are free to participate in the meeting.”
The ground is already poisoned, with some clerics saying they will move to court to overturn the election if they do not get justice after today’s special Annual General Meeting.
They charge that the election process was not fair and accuse Canon Karanja of handpicking 12 members of the search committee, a team drawn from the clergy and laity that cleared candidates to run.
Of the 11 applicants, only three made it to the short-list. These were Mr Kinyanjui, the current Deputy General Secretary, Nelson Makanda, and the Provost of All Saints Cathedral Sammy Wainaina.
Those opposed to the choice of Mr Kinyanjui say that he does not have a theology background as required by the NCCK constitution.
POISONED
Mr Kinyanjui, a clerk at the Murang’a County Assembly, was ordained a deacon by the Bishop of Thika, Julius Wanyoike, before being deployed to the Machakos diocese as a priest.
Claims of tribalism and the unseen hand of the State have further complicated the matter, with those who feel shortchanged saying it was time Canon Karanja, who, just like his predecessor, Rev Mutava Musyimi, hails from Mount Kenya region, paved the way for someone from another part of the country.
On Tuesday, NCCK chairman Timothy Ndambuki, who is also the Archbishop of the Africa Brotherhood Church, complained that he had not been consulted ahead of today’s meeting in Limuru, further depicting the internal feuds at the religion’s outfit.
“As the council chairman, you ought to have called me for a consultation meeting on the best way to respond or act to solve this matter. This is both demeaning and embarrassing for the council and the position of the chairman,” he wrote in a letter to Canon Karanja.
REPUTATION
The organisation’s history is closely knit with that of the struggle for pluralism in the country and the chairman is worried that the ongoing fights and brinkmanship may dent its reputation.
NCCK’s history in keeping the government on toes has meant that the State is always keen on who the leaders become so they do not give it much headache especially in cases of excesses or swirling claims of graft in high places.
It has also been pointed out that Canon Karanja was proposing changes to the NCCK constitution to give more powers to a few mainstream churches, including the Anglican Church of Kenya, Presbyterian Church of East Africa and the Methodist Church. If they get the proposed powers, they would overrule the rest of the members on key decisions.
“Targeting to divide the church in your suggested veto powers and other levels is balkanising the body of Christ in the version of worldly political contests. In Christ, we are one and that is the unity the council should be enhancing,” Bishop Ndambuki added.
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