ACK kicks off race to replace long-serving bishop

Maseno West Diocese Bishop, Rt Rev Joseph Otieno Wasonga.

Eight clerics are seeking to replace one of Kenya’s longest serving ACK bishops. Maseno West Diocese Bishop, Rt Rev Joseph Otieno Wasonga, retires in July this year after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 65 and will be replaced by one of the eight candidates.

The prelate’s retirement means the Anglican Church of Kenya will also get a new provincial dean, a position currently held by Wasonga.

Bishop Wasonga became the second bishop of Maseno West, which was hived off from Maseno South Diocese in 1985. The first administrative head was Bishop Daniel Omolo, a former assistant bishop of Maseno South.

In 1999, Bondo Diocese was hived off from Maseno West, taking with it Bondo and Rarieda areas of Siaya County, leaving behind Alego, Ugenya and Gem under Wasonga.

For 28 years, Wasonga has been bishop and tried three times, unsuccessfully, to be head of the Kenyan Province of the ACK. He was consecrated and enthroned on July 21, 1991, aged 37. Last week, candidates were handed nomination papers and instructed to return them by March 9.

The race has also attracted candidates from other dioceses. Initially, there was talk that two canons would be in the race but Canon Festus Odhiambo, the former administrative secretary on Nairobi Diocese and vicar at ACK St Phillips Jericho, pulled out saying God had not spoken to him yet over the issue despite being urged by faithful from both Nairobi and Maseno West.

Among the candidates are Rev John Mark Oduor, the provincial director of missions; Rev Joel Atong, the provost at St Peter Cathedral in Siaya; Canon Francis Omondi, of Garissa Mission Area under All Saints Cathedral Diocese; Rev John Mark Haung, the administrative secretary of Maseno West Diocese; Rev Solomon Mruka, who works in Uganda; Rev Francis Otworo, the diocesan finance officer and Rev Dr Zebedi Muga, a lecturer at St Paul’s University. Also in the race is Rev Prof James Kombo of Daystar University. 

The process to replace a bishop is elaborate and can span over several months.