Dossier

A New Era of Martyrdom?

A suspicious murder heightens tensions between the government and the leaders of the Catholics Church, who are the most prominent critics of an unjust regime.

By Ben Kobus

Nakuru, Kenya: a series of robberies against missions broke out in January. There is nothing remarkable about such raids in rural Kenya. Missionaries, like all whites, are assumed to be well off and in possession of salable gadgets; even poor missions have the essential pickup trucks and Land Cruisers. By comparison with the conditions of most rural Kenyans, missionaries--even Franciscans--must appear wealthy indeed. But the circumstances of the last of these robberies suggest a more sinister motivation.

On January 8th, St. Francis' Mission in Lower Subukia was raided. Next it was St. Gerald's in Kiamaina, on the 22nd. Here an Irish Kiltegan missionary was severely beaten. The attack on St. Francis' Secondary School in Lare, two days later, suggested a pattern. All the raids had been exceptionally violent, and this one again targeted a Franciscan establishment. Fifteen armed thugs had stormed in, apparently intent on causing as much damage as they could to people and property. Their only victim was a watchman, James Kimani, who later died from machete wounds.

The police came unusually early, for Kenyan police reacting to a crime in a the remote location. Brother Larry Timmons, head of the school, a missionary in the area for more than twenty years, was there to meet them; he died instantly as one of the constables opened fire on him, quickly shooting off several rounds. One witness said, "he just went into a frenzy and started shooting".

What amazed Father Moses Muraya, administrator of the Diocese of Nakuru, was that the police should have arrived so quickly and that another contingent of police were waiting at the hospital when Brother Larry's body and the dying Kimani were taken to Lare, the nearest town. "We know very well," he said, "that there are absolutely no means of communication between Lare and Nakuru, and it is worse still at that time (2.00 a.m.)."

Father Muraya urged the district administration to carry out a thorough investigation, and was surprised to find that the detective work had been cursory at best; there was barely an attempt to take fingerprints. Not one of the original raiders had been found and arrested, and it was only after repeated insistence from Nakuru diocese that the policeman concerned was brought before a court to be charged. Even then he was not required to enter a plea, since consent to prosecute him had not yet come from the Attorney General.

Father Muraya was particularly concerned that District Commissioner John Abduba seemed uninterested in information he had received about collusion between the police and criminals. Earlier on the day of the murder, police officers were seen drinking with known criminals in a local bar. A witness overheard talk about "a mission" they wanted to accomplish that night. Still Abduba insisted that the raid had been a case of "common robbery".

Frustrated by his dealings from the district government, the diocesan administrator resorted to a half-page press release in the Sunday Nation, Kenya's most widely read independent newspaper, on January 26. This official statement made public the belief that Brother Timmons had been killed because of his commitment to justice and peace in Kenya. The statement announced the death, then went on: "We note with great concern that prior to the tragic death, Brother Timmons had a confrontation with the Provincial Administration and the Identity Cards Registrars over instances of bribery and discrimination in the issuance of ID. cards at Lare-Njoro..."

To be eligible to vote in the national elections later this year, Kenyan voters will need a new style ID card. Brother Larry was not the only one to protest at the way these were being issued; all over the country a pattern was clear. In areas loyal to President Daniel Arap Moi the process went smoothly, and by the short deadline of January 31 the distribution would be complete. By contrast in areas such as Nakuru, where opposition to the ruling KANU party is strong, officials have been ingenious in finding ways to hold up the issuing of cards so that few voters could meet the deadline. There was also a disturbing additional field on the revised cards: a place in which to enter the holder's tribe.

During President Moi's leadership, Kenya's ruling party has used a series of "dirty tricks" to entrench its power. Although prevented by international pressure from eliminating democratic elections, the KANU leaders have found ways to drag their feet, so that the electoral process is severely curtailed. Political skullduggery has wreaked havoc on the already fragile new opposition parties; a new party, Safina, has even been refused registration for the elections, on specious grounds. Given the power that KANU has to meddle in the life of the country, individuals are too pessimistic about organizing themselves politically. The only effective voice for justice and peace in the country has been the Catholic Church.

Last year Kenya's bishops issued a pastoral letter instructing the faithful on their Christian responsibility to take part in the political process and to be well informed about justice in their country. "Our Social Responsibility" came at a time when national consensus was demanding a reform of the constitution. The hierarchy saw clearly that without the participation of the people in a proper constitutional assembly, this effort at democratic government would also be turned to the partisan advantage of KANU; it would lead to another effort to establish a one-party state, with KANU as the only legitimate party.

Father Muraya's suspicions about the raid in Nakuru reflects the general deterioration in relations between the Church and the Kenyan government. In fact, Brother Larry had known he was in danger. The day before his death, he had given his superiors a written report of the lengthy disagreement he had with the provincial administration over the distribution of the ID cards; the dispute affected his students who were frustrated in their attempts to obtain the new cards. As he handed in the report he told the head of the Church's justice-and-peace efforts that he should "feel free to use the report as he deems fit," in case they did not meet again.

As more than 100 bishops, priests, and religious gathered at Nakuru's Christ the King Cathedral for Brother Larry's funeral, Father Muraya openly accused John Abduba of misleading the public regarding the circumstances of the killing. The highly charged political content of that homily provoked a quick protest from the government.

There is only a fine line between the Christian passion for justice and peace on the one hand, and partisan politics on the other. It is easy, even for a person who has renounced the world, to veer off that line and more beyond the defense of those in his pastoral care to the pursuit of an ideological cause; it is sometimes difficult to distinguish where this line falls. This is precisely why KANU's chief spokesman, Joseph Kamotho--himself a Catholic--insistently attacks any pronouncement by the Kenya hierarchy about justice in the country, accusing the bishops of meddling in politics, the proper realm of the laity.

But Kamotho's protests fail to convince most Kenyans, the prestige of the hierarchy continues to grow. If the political leaders of KANU interpret any effort to promote democratic freedom as a threat to their regime, at least that attitude helps the ordinary people to realize who is really on their side. No matter how much politicians may insinuate that Brother Timmons is merely a political martyr, his actions suggest that he died because of his courage in upholding fundamental Christian principles. And if Kenya has finally come to the stage where the government is making martyrs for the Church, matters are more serious than people had feared--and yet, on a higher level, more hopeful.