People of the cloth have been accused of all manner of debauchery that have been making weird stories to read in the Kenyan papers, magazines and even being aired on Tv. These include adultery, drunkenness, homosexuality, child abuse and theft among others.
The court of Kenya has found itself in a dilemma of whether to handle a priests involved case of homosexuality accusation that involves unfair reputation damage which seeks justice.
The Anglican Church is a member of the 70 million strong Anglican Communion.Justice Abigail Mshila yesterday advised ACK Mt Kenya West Diocese Bishop Joseph Kagunda and the complainants, Archdeacon John Gachau, Reverend James Maigua and Reverend Paul Warui, to use the Alternative Dispute Resolution method.
The Anglican Church of Kenya is a member of the Global South and the Global Anglican Future Conference . They broke with the Episcopal Church of the United States over the question of allowing blessing of same-sex unions and non-celibate gay clergy, and have supported the Anglican Church in North America as a new province in creation of the Anglican Communion
The three priests are seeking an apology and compensation from Mr Kagunda, who they accuse of falsely implicating them in engaging in homosexual acts.
Lawyers David Onsare for the priests and Wachira Ndiritu for the Church did not oppose the mediation proposal.
Four witnesses – Lay Canon Wilfred Gichuki Nderitu, as well as three young men who were allegedly sodomised by the priests, were scheduled to testify in defence of the bishop but were stood down. Giving evidence earlier, Kagunda sought to distance himself from the Church’s tribunal that recommended the priests’ suspension, saying he only communicated and implemented its findings.
“I appointed Canon Wilfred Nderitu Gichuki together with Humphrey Irungu and Godfrey Wanjohi as members of the tribunal. Canon Gichuki was the chair and I went by their findings,” he said. The tribunal had found Gachau guilty of the offence and Kagunda then revoked his licence to officiate over Church services. The case will be mentioned on November 30.
The High Court has suspended the hearing of the sexual defamation case pitting the three priests against Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) bishop.
Do you think the church tribunal should solve the issue on its own or should the court be the one to listen to the plea of the three men.
