Archbishop Emeritus John Njenga, who died on Sunday, was destined to be a man of letters, but opted to take the line of the Word.
Njenga was a man of many firsts. He was the first indigenous priest for Nairobi archdiocese, first Catholic priest from Kiambu District and the first African bishop for Eldoret Diocese.
Njenga appeared destined for the medical field before he took a sharp detour to the pulpit.
Some, especially in the secular society, would be excused to argue that the towering figure of the Catholic faith only ended at the highest hierarchy of commanding an archdiocese by default.
After completing high school, at Mang'u High School, he secured admission at the then prestigious Makerere University to study medicine.
Given his passion for education, from a tender age, many would have expected him to end up in academia, possibly in a lecture hall, but he chose a different path.
Top brains
Among the personalities that he interacted with at Mang'u were retired president Mwai Kibaki and the late Tom Mboya, individuals who went on to shape the political destiny of this country. Njenga could have as well been part of such club.
To the disappointment of many, including his parents, instead of heading to Makerere to join the cream of East Africa's academic giants, he opted to join a lowly and hardly known Kibosho Major Seminary in Tanzania to join priesthood.
Njenga, who died barely two months to his 90th birthday, will go down as the cleric who infused his passion for education with the higher calling of converting souls to Christianity.
As a bishop, he not only undertook pastoral activities, but opened schools and other learning institutions especially in remote areas, helping to equip societies with knowledge even as he lived to the biblical teaching of being the “light of the world”.
When he was ordained Bishop of the Diocese of Eldoret in 1970, he recounts, in his biography, Love and Service to the People of God, how he went round the rough terrain of Kerio Valley and Elgeyo Marakwet, encouraging children to go to school. He also opened up schools for those that had not been privileged to access education.
New schools
By the time Njenga was transferred to Mombasa, he had, in 18 years, opened about 40 new schools in the vast diocese, and was just about to open a teachers' training college in the area.
“In the first year (of being the area bishop), I had problems with children who had been misled by their parents that I was there to take them to school by force. Much later, they got used to me and we did a lot together in church and in education. They were all eventually very happy with me,” he says in his biography.
In one of his interviews after retiring as the Archbishop of the Diocese of Mombasa in 2005, Njenga recalled how he opened up to the idea of becoming priest, fearing that if he told the priest that he did not wish to be one, his education would be discontinued.
“I was very fond of education and never wanted anything to stop it. I thought the school’s administrators would throw me out if I did not dance to their tune,” Njenga is quoted to have told Lifestyle magazine, recounting the response he gave to a priest in 1942 at Lioki Intermediate School.
The current Archbishop of Mombasa Martin Kivuva revealed the late archbishop's connection with education in his tribute on Sunday, saying it was in the sector that he made the most of his contribution, besides the church.
"He served as the chairman of the Bishop's Conference and rendered his services with a lot of dedication and commitment. He will be remembered for his passion and immense contribution to the development of education in Kenya,” Archbishop Kivuva said of his predecessor.
Njenga fiercely and fearlessly fought for religion to be taught in schools, memorably taking on former Cabinet minister Julius Gikonyo Kiano, who he accused of planning to introduce paganism in schools by opposing the teaching of religion in schools.
It took the intervention of then President Jomo Kenyatta to have the two sit together, after which Njenga’s position prevailed as he helped shape the Education Act of 1968, where religious education was assimilated in the curriculum.
And despite his long standing in matters of Catholic faith, Njenga in his biography reveals how the chance of going to school led to him converting to the Catholic Church. He was initially a member of the Church of Scotland Mission, the missionary group that founded the Presbyterian Church of East Africa.
Njenga was born in Tigoni, now in Kiambu County, on Christmas Day in 1928. He joined Githiga Church of Scotland Mission School where he sat his Common Entrance examination aged 11, emerging as one of the two boys who passed the examination.
But while he was called to join the then prestigious Thogoto Intermediate School from Class Five, he says that the requirement that he pays Sh100 per year for his fee kept him away from the institution.
Lady luck would however come smiling after the Catholic Church -that was then making inroads in the area- opened Lioki Intermediate School and charged only Sh20, granting the young man with quest for education the chance to further his education.
His academic brilliance would earn him free education after a decree was made that those who emerged the best pupils would be exempted from paying fees. Njenga capitalised on this and always emerged the best.
Njenga says that it was at Lioki that he was introduced to the Catholic doctrine, as he juggled his class work with catechism classes, leading to his baptism and confirmation.
He passed his examination and in 1944 he joined Mang’u High School. It was here that he later met retired President Kibaki and the late Tom Mboya, who joined a year after him.
After his O-Level, he was admitted to the equally prestigious Makerere University but opted not to pursue the line and instead joined a seminary as the call to priesthood overwhelmed him.
Studied philosophy
This quest saw him join Kibosho Major Seminary in Tanzania in 1948 where he studied Philosophy, Theology and Pastoral Studies for nine years. He would later fly out to London and Rome where he studied Social Studies and the Canon Law to doctorate levels between 1961 and 1964. By then, he had already been ordained as a priest on February 17, 1957.
After ordination as a priest in 1957, he was posted to Kiserian Junior Seminary where he served for three years (1958-1960) before heading to Europe.
Upon returning to Kenya, he was put in charge of Law at the Catholic Secretariat before he was appointed the parish priest of Our Lady of Visitation, Makadara, between 1964 and 1969.
Njenga was the first indigenous priest for Nairobi archdiocese, first Catholic priest from Kiambu District and was also the first African bishop for Eldoret Diocese.
He served in Eldoret until 1988 when he was transferred to Mombasa, taking over from the late Archbishop Nichodemus Kirima, who had been promoted to Archbishop of Nyeri Archdiocese.
Njenga served for less than two years as bishop as he was elevated to archbishop when Mombasa was upgraded to an archdiocese.
