Nhom-Rieer in the Episcopal Church of Eldoret, Kenya
9 min readTOTAL COLLABORATIVE COMMUNAL RELIGIOUS COUP AND SUBVERSION OF THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE IN ELDORET KENYA
March 7, 2018 (SSB) — It was on 15th of October, 2017, a very chilly but intense Sunday. Chol Pareng sat at one corner designated for elders- one may argue that he is an elder as well, yes he is, but more importantly an Archdeacon who once serve as the pastor of the parish and chair of the controversial Governing Council of the Eldoret Area. Protocol and common sense dictates that he should have sat next to Right Rev. Peter but he looked to have been more than determined to rubbish his image before the people of God, an act he was known for whenever not happy. It wasn’t to our surprise at all. That’s him in entirety. The congregants who have congregated at the Light House Parish got lost in thoughts and were psychologically subjected to deep soul searching with each Believer trying to get the attention of those that were seated next to them as they converse about the possible remarks the out-gone and outspoken parish priest would make.
The winds of change blew and were felt all over Kenya from Nairobi to Kakuma Refugees Camp by the Dinka congregants of the Episcopal Church residing in Kenya. The Arch Bishop of the internalised province of Jongulei, His Gace; Akuurdit Ngong Akuurdit had just come with a resolve to end the leadership wrangles within the parishes which had thrown the reputation of the Episcopal Church to the dogs and as a result a reshuffling was made and we were not left out in Eldoret. Rev. Chol was transferred to Pioneer Parish and Rev. John Ayuel to Light House Parish just to mention but few.
This would be the first Sunday service Rev. Chol Pareng attended after his removal from being the pastor in charge of that particular parish. It was almost unanimously agreed where I was personally seated that we would experience the wrath of the two antagonists who for long have not been in good terms with one another but were by chance or by God doing going to address the congregation. Rev. Chol had primarily come to announce to the congregation the promotion of Rev. John Ayuel as an Archdeacon in the Episcopal Church by Right Rev. Daniel Deng Aboot, the Bishop of the Diocese of Duk while Rev. Ayuel would be the preacher of the day.
It was time for curiosity to leave us in peace! Rev. Chol was invited to do the ritual he was sent to perform. He did it to the expectation of the people but was as well quick to grab the opportunity to express his displeasure over what he termed as massive gossip during his tenure which he confessed to have been 13years, 9months and 26days on 8th of October, 2017, his last day in charge of Light House Parish in accordance with the directive of the Bishop. One would be forgiven were you to ask whether the church had turned into a monarchy which is the only way one would enjoy leadership pleasure as the leader of one governable entity for such a long period of time.
Rev. Chol became more furious and could not control his anger, in fact he rebuked and dared those he purport to have alleged his controversial withdrawal of Ksh. 100,000 from the accounts of the Parish in support of Malek Diocese to sue him if they got any evidence in regard to this allegation, (I will not write literally everything he spoke that fateful Sunday). The tension was building up, commotion became uncontrollable, and the anti Chol condemned him while the pro Chol sympathize with him. Regrettably, the parish was deeply divided but thank God, his senior and the presiding Bishop of Malek Diocese was in the midst that Sunday; Peter Joh, the only person arguably who could calm him and indeed he was able to do so but Chol couldn’t take it so he dramatically stormed out of the church. It became crystal clear that things may not be as cool as they use to be when his sentiments were echoed by the Bishop that they will bring to book those who alleged the said unlawful withdrawal of funds. The Bishop promised to do the follow up in person. Was all this warranted? Of course it’s a big no.
We could only wish all this ends there but hell no! Division became norm, hatred preached and for these few months the congregation that stood with Rev. Chol for almost 14 years became enemies to their own selves. Something was fishy. Why would people all over sudden hate themselves after the transfer of Rev. Chol yet they have been together for the last 14 years Chol has been in charge? You may not know the origin of all these faults if you ignore the remarks of Rev. Chol on the 15th of October, 2017 and if you don’t pay close attention to the events that befall upon the peaceful Dinka congregants of the Episcopal church living in Kapsoya Estate thereafter, arguably the estate that offers sanctuary to 90% of the South Sudanese people living in Uasin Gishu County.
It was after two Sundays after the illegal opening of a new church within Kapsoya by a puppet who called himself Ang’au Athiek that I heard of the purported closure of the Pioneer Parish which approximately enjoys a membership of 100 believers of Christ compared to the approximated 3000 congregants in Light House, a number that does a good job when it comes to offering, tithe and more importantly when it comes to the maintenance of the pastor, they are literally the best, someone can prove me right here. This closure was not true. In fact, the Kenyans were affected by the transfer of pastors just like we were. The new pastor requested the congregants to take a different hall for their Sunday services for the next three weeks after which they will return for their service as usual on Sundays. This was normal because the congregants have since been allowed to resume their normal prayer timetable. And so, I want to categorically state here that this was just a petty plan to overthrow Rev. John Ayuel. It should as well go on record that Rev. Ayuel with the help of Rev. Deborah Yar Chuol have administered pioneer for good 3 years.
Common sense dictates that someone has to intervene in case of existence of any pressing issues/problems amongst people and therefore the Central leadership led by Abraham Dot Pareng which represents the office of the Arch Bishop was sent to investigate the issue, submit the report of the facts finding and recommend to His Grace the Arch Bishop the possible solutions to this problem. Where did you get this idea of transferring pastors from? Who gave you the right to rearrange the area council yet they ranked themselves and who told you there was a problem in the area to warrant the change in the secretariat? These are fundamental questions Abraham Dot must answer otherwise I will be force to believe that he made a decision that was best suited to favour his COUSIN and an ALLY in the RELIGIOUS POLITICAL ARENA. This is where the team led by Dot got it wrong. In fact most of us could not believe the decrees that were read on 4th of March 2018. They are a clear contradiction of what the Bishop has been known for. We were forced to believed that someone has forged his signature to formalised what I would called a total collaborative communal religious coup and subversion of the will of the people which was initially guaranteed.
Let facts be told. When David Chol Deng was suspended in Nairobi for more than 6 months, it was because of engaging in cold war (war of words) with a member of his Parish. In Kakuma, Nhial Guut was sent on compulsory leave for resisting the reshuffling that were made by the Arch Bishop. In Nairobi again, Bol Chol was as well sent on compulsory leave for refusing to work with Abraham Dot, the appointed Bishop Commissary to oversee the congregation in Kenya. The question begs, what is so special about someone who has resisted the decision of the bishop and worse of all open a church? He should have been suspended were the decision makers being fair.
I want to salute Ayuel for believing in the cohesion of the people more importantly than the material gain one happen to enjoy once assigned to a parish and in particular Light House Parish. Come on! What is so special/hard about opening a church? If Ang’au was able to open it with no background of English or Swahili it simply means anyone can as well open it. If Dot and the team were able to establish Jerusalem parish out of a parish that was initially led by Chardit, anyone can of course. If Kuir Garang was able to overthrow his own mother (Achol Yol) in KITI and took over the throne of his mother, the mother went and establish teachers’ parish with the help of Dot and Pawuoi, who can’t open a church? If Lual Panchol was able to open what is today known as glory parish when he broke ties with the Light House Parish, who can’t do that?
Come on, we are not fools! We are very aware that Rev. Bol Chol and Ayuel Wuor were opposed to the appointment of Rev. Abraham Dot as the Bishop commissary in Kenya. Believe it or not, this is the basis on which Dot based his recommendations on. He took advantage of the powers vested in him to frustrate those who could not identify with him hence advising the Arch Bishop inappropriately.
Dot should know that he has no moral authority to lecture anyone concerning unity and cohesion of the people. Unite all congregants in Langalanga and take them back to Char Mach. Now that you reign as the commissary, unite the congregants in KITI, and only after then shall you have moral ability to lecture others in regards to unity of the people. All these divisions in Nakuru after all are directly associated with you. You know that more than anyone.
I want to warn Gualla/ Malek Diocese not to even try to capture the Church in Kenya. I mean the decision is more of Gualla! It’s not Godly and neither is it humane. We are aware of the influence of the Malek Diocese in the affairs in Kenya but be informed that you will not succeed.
The church, and in particular the Anglican Church is known and respected for its ability to defend the rights of individuals and the great example here is Right Rev. Desmon Ntutu of South Africa. In government we say, where there is no justice for the people, let there be no peace for the government. In church we shall say where there is infringement of the rights of believers, let there be no peace for those who deny others their rights if this paradoxical, dubious and retrogressive behaviour persist.
I can confess without fear of contradiction or favour that there will come a time when His Grace Akuurdit Ngong Akuurdit will struggle to differentiate himself with General Kiir. Why am I saying this? Kiir’s main problem has always been his advisors who advised him wrongly and that is the direction the leadership of Akuurdit is taking. May God open your eyes to see the injustice that is being done to your people without your knowledge. People are taking advantage of your trust to implement their sinister plans against other innocent believers of Christ.
Last but not least, I respect the decision but I doubt its fairness and therefore I would rather called upon the Arch Bishop to reconsider and revisit this issue and seek to make it right again. People are not happy!
By; Ambassador of Christ or you can simply called me “Watchman of the People”.
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