Bishop Kimengich: Heads to Mombasa after witnessing bandits' terror in Turkana and Marakwet

One Sunday in 2013, a gunman opened fire as Bishop Dominic Kimengich was celebrating Mass in Todonyang, near the Kenya–Ethiopia border.

The bullet struck a worshipper, ending the Bishop’s mission that day.

Kimengich, newly appointed and still learning the ropes, had gone to celebrate ten years of efforts to bring peace along the volatile border. He recalls presiding over a Mass that brought together locals from Turkana and their Ethiopian neighbours.

“During the Mass, one person from Turkana shot dead a congregant from Ethiopia. That single bullet destroyed everything; Mass ended prematurely, and we had to appeal for calm amidst the tension,” Kimengich tells The Sunday Standard.

“First of all, we realised that many young men who had attended the holy Mass carried guns. We had to ask them not to shoot and protect the people from Ethiopia so that they would not be killed. It was disturbing because some people did not respect the church during an occasion to celebrate peace. It helped us understand that we needed to do much more to reform people.”

This incident highlights the hardships that have shaped the man of God’s resilience. Humility and steadfastness are written all over his face as he reflects on 15 years as a Bishop of the Catholic Church.

On January 28, he was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Mombasa by Pope Leo XIV, after leading two dioceses in conflict-prone areas of the North Rift. He joins the Coast congregants in April and is set to assume the position of Archbishop next year, when Martin Kivuva retires.

From a deadly attack in the middle of a Mass he was presiding over in Turkana to the killing of one of his young priests, Fr Allois Bett, in Kerio Valley, Bishop Kimengich pours his heart out as he prepares to relocate to the coastal city of Mombasa.

Priests in Eldoret describe the Coadjutor Bishop as a transformative leader who set standards for them and millions of Catholics in the North Rift.

Kimengich’s rise from a humble background in Kituro, Baringo County, to one of the most highly regarded ranks in the Catholic Church is as remarkable as his latest appointment.

When he was not playing his guitar, singing his heart out, and preaching from the pulpit, Bishop Kimengich was reconciling warring communities in Turkana and Kerio Valley.

Kimengich, who studied Canon Law in Rome, says serving in remote areas of Kenya taught him countless lessons.

The 64-year-old prelate says the communities in the border area are still in conflict, but the Church continues its reconciliation efforts.

When he was appointed Bishop of Eldoret in late 2019, there was barely time for Kimengich to settle and rest upon his installation in February 2020, because banditry-prone Kerio Valley was bleeding.

Kimengich says the killing of Fr Allois in May last year remains one of the most painful experiences in his career as a priest and Bishop.

“Unfortunately, until today, we have not received an answer as to why Fr Allois was killed. There has been much speculation, but the best people to give us the answer were the killers themselves. If they were caught, we would all want to know why they killed my priest,” he recalls.

He explains: “I had gone to South Africa for a religious function just two days before his killing. I was supposed to be there for ten days, but two days into my stay, I saw the sad news on social media. One of the priests with me asked whether the slain Fr Allois was my priest. I had to leave everything and return to Kenya. Upon my return, I immediately went to Kerio Valley.”

He, however, says he leaves the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret at a time when Kerio Valley is experiencing relative peace.

Mombasa will be Kimengich’s third diocese, after he transferred from Lodwar to Eldoret in 2020, replacing Cornelius Korir, who died in 2017.

He is the second-most transferred Catholic Bishop in Kenya, after Archbishop Philip Anyolo of Nairobi, who moved from Kericho to Homa Bay, then to Kisumu, and finally to Nairobi.

“My appointment as Coadjutor Archbishop of Mombasa was a surprise because I didn’t expect a transfer. I came to the Diocese of Eldoret in 2020 and have been here for six years. I thought I would be in Eldoret until I reached the retirement age of 75. Then I received the news from Pope Leo XIV through the apostolic nuncio in Kenya, Archbishop Hubertus Matheus Maria van Megen,” says Bishop Kimengich, who will officially begin his duties in Mombasa on  April 25. 

He recalls his breakthroughs as a struggling young man and through the priesthood, and as a leader in a church where elevation is based on strict guidelines.

Kimengich remembers becoming the first man to be ordained a priest from vast Baringo County.

“I was inspired by missionaries who taught me when I started schooling. My parents were not Christians, and it was difficult convincing them that I would be a priest and would not marry in my entire life. Later, after much convincing, they allowed me to pursue my dream as a priest. Interestingly, my father was baptised a day before I was ordained,” the Coadjutor Archbishop recalls.

After his ordination as a priest in the Archdiocese of Nakuru in September 1986, Kimengich served there for 15 years, before stints in Nairobi and Nandi, and his transfer to Lodwar as Auxiliary Bishop in 2010, just a year before the substantive Bishop, Patrick Harrington, retired. 

History will repeat itself in February next year when Archbishop Kivuva Musonde retires, and Kimengich assumes the role, as happened in Lodwar.

Harrington, a missionary, resigned in 2011, and Kimengich took over as the first African Bishop to serve in Lodwar since the Diocese’s establishment in 1961. He served there until February 2020, when he moved to Eldoret.

By 2020, when he moved to Eldoret, at least 13 new schools had been established in Turkana. The Catholic Diocese of Eldoret was split into two, Kapsabet and Eldoret, under his stewardship, after parishes increased from 66 to 106.

Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret, Very Rev. Fr David Rutto, describes Kimengich as a steadfast shepherd who listened keenly to advice.

“He filled the late Bishop Korir’s shoes in the search for peace. His transfer to Mombasa was surprising to us. He united communities,” Fr Rutto says.

Administrator of Eldoret Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, Rev Fr Samuel Mwaniki, adds: “Bishop Kimengich is a gift to the people of Mombasa. He set standards, and we still feel his presence.”

Sister Mary Mwaniki, chair of the Association of Sisters in Kenya, Eldoret unit, says the Coadjutor Archbishop used his vast knowledge of Canon Law in his administrative duties.

“He loves his guitar and singing Catholic songs that call for peace,” Sister Mwaniki notes.

Catholic faithful, led by Dr Joseph Koech, say Bishop Kimengich’s transfer to Mombasa was unexpected.

“Bishop Kimengich established many projects and ensured that the church was self-reliant,” Dr Koech says.

Veronica Wasike adds that he used his humility to rally Christians to build St John’s Amani Centre, expected to be a major income-generating project for the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret.