Call to end extra judicial killings as church marks 16th anniversary of Fr Kaiser murder

What you need to know:

  • Fr Kaiser was discovered dead on a busy highway in Naivasha on August 24, 2000.
  • Bishop Korir cited the recent killings of lawyer Willy Kimani, his client and taxi driver as some of the deaths that were of great concern.
  • The bishop said successive governments had been reluctant to address the Killing of Fr Kaiser.
  • Fr Francis Mwangi, who worked with the late Fr Kaiser, recounted the difficult moment the late priest endured before he was eventually found murdered.

The Catholic Church has expressed concern over cases of extra judicial killings in the country.

Speaking during a memorial Mass for the late catholic priest John Anthony Kaiser held at Morendat in Naivasha Saturday, Bishop Cornelius Korir of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret said the government has a prerogative to stop such killings and enforced disappearances.

Fr Kaiser had worked in Kenya for more than 36 years and was an outspoken critic of the government especially on corruption.

He was discovered dead on a busy highway in Naivasha on August 24, 2000.

During the memorial to mark the 16th anniversary of the killing of Fr Kaiser, Bishop Korir cited the recent killings of lawyer Willy Kimani, his client and taxi driver as some of the deaths that were of great concern.

"We have over the years been told that no stones will be left unturned regarding several unresolved killings since the regime of President [Jomo] Kenyatta, but now it seems some of the stones have been too heavy," said Bishop Korir.

Some of the unresolved killings that the Bishop alluded to included that of political maverick JM Kariuki and Fr Kaiser.

ATTEMPTS TO SEEK JUSTICE

He said the church has made several attempts to seek justice regarding the unresolved killing of the former outspoken Catholic priest but have hit a snag.

“We have made several attempts to have the murder case resolved but we cannot move.

"The current Director of Public Prosecutions was a lawyer [representing] a suspect. He cannot handle the case unless he gives the matter to someone else,’ said Bishop Korir.

The bishop said successive governments had been reluctant to address the Killing of Fr Kaiser, save for the former President’s Mwai Kibaki’s administration that started an enquiry into the matter.

He attributed some of the vices in the country including corruption to “bad leadership,” calling on voters to elect leaders with integrity.

Fr Francis Mwangi, who worked with the late Fr Kaiser, recounted the difficult moment the late priest endured before he was eventually found murdered.

“He was constantly harassed over his stand on the Enoospukia evictions. At one time, he was arrested in the dead of the night and dumped at a Catholic church in Naivasha. I volunteered to accompany him,” he told the congregation.

“Fr Kaiser was uncharacteristically fearful a few days before he was killed. He was restless and confessed of frightening moments,” added Fr Mwangi.

He said the two spoke only a few hours before he was killed, with Fr Kaiser enquiring on where he was supposed to sleep after a trip from Nairobi.

“I told him to sleep in the same room he had used prior to his trip to Nairobi and that was the last time we spoke,” said Fr Mwangi.

He said they used to refer to Father Kaiser as “kifaru” due to his boldness.