Kenya: Bishops call for justice on anniversary of missionary's murder

Fr John Kaiser

Source: Fides

Clergy, former parishioners and friends attended an open air memorial service last Thursday, at the place where the body of Fr John Kaiser was found on 24 August 2000 by the side of the Nairobi-Nakuru highway in Kenya.

"Father Kaiser fought all his life to defend the rights of the oppressed, the poor and all those who suffer from injustice" one bishop said. Taking the microphone he called on the government to respect its commitments to voters, recalling the unfulfilled electoral promises, many of which were overdue, and insisted on the duty to seek social justice, reflecting the ideals of Father Kaiser.

The bishop also called for action to be taken against some police officers accused of human rights violations during the demonstrations of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition, which caused the death of more than 30 people last month. He urged representatives of political parties to prioritize the welfare of the nation instead of letting talks turn into fruitless exchanges that produce little progress for citizens.

Father John Anthony Kaiser was born in Perham, Minnesota in the United States on November 23, 1932. He entered the congregation of the Saint Joseph Missionary Society of Mill Hill and was ordained a priest in Saint Louis in 1964. The same year, he was sent on a mission to Kenya. He served in the diocese of Kisii for twenty years, then in the dioceses of Nakuru and Ngong.

As a missionary, he served the poor, advocated justice for the oppressed and respect for human rights. At the height of ethnic violence and land clashes in Kenya in 1993, Father Kaiser was working in Maela IDP camp in Nakuru diocese. His lifeless body was found on August 24, 2000 along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway. The cause of his death was not determined at the time.

At the request of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), an investigation into his death was eventually opened and concluded in 2007, which established that Fr Kaiser had been murdered - debunking a "suicide theory" that had been put forward by the Kenyan government and the FBI. To this day, however, mandates and executors of his assassination have not been brought to justice.