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As Kenyans, “we are not doing very well”: Catholic Bishop Denounces Government’s Failure to Protect Human Life

Bishop Michael Cornelius Otieno Odiwa of Kenya’s Catholic Diocese of Homa Bay. Credit: Catholic Diocese of Homa Bay
Sabrine Amboka

By Sabrine Amboka

Homabay, 06 July, 2025 / 8:15 pm (ACI Africa).

Bishop Michael Cornelius Otieno Odiwa of Kenya’s Homa Bay Catholic Diocese has faulted the Kenyan government for failing to protect human life during the June 25 violent protests in the East African nation held in memory of those killed in last year’s demonstrations, despite prior appeals from Catholic Bishops in the country.

In his homily during the Priestly ordination of Deacon Michael John Ouma Owuor, Bishop Odiwa reflected on the June 24 statement by members of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), in which they urged the government to safeguard human life and property.

“We gave a statement to the government, pleading with them, urging them to protect and safeguard the lives of our children if only they come forward to remember their fellow children who died last year,” he said at the Friday, July 4 event held at  St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, Asumbi Catholic Parish of his Episcopal See.

Despite the Bishops’ plea, Bishop Odiwa said in his homily, “what is saddening is that the following day even more children were killed. They fell and lost their lives by bullets.”

Kenya’s youths encountered police brutality during the June 2024 Gen Z-led protests against high taxation, lack of opportunities, and an unresponsive system, where at least 60 of them were killed with some getting abducted and others just going missing.

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On June 25, youths again gathered to commemorate those killed by the police during the 2024 protests. Unfortunately, the demonstrations were characterized by looting, destruction of property and loss of human life, including some 16 youths, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) and Amnesty International.

The country had the June 17 demonstrations that were organized to demand justice after the controversial murder of Albert Ojwang, a teacher and blogger, who had been arrested on June 7 and confirmed dead on June 8, reportedly in police custody.

In his July 4 homily at the ordination that coincided with the burial of the late Ojwang, Bishop Odiwa expressed solidarity with the families of the youths who had lost their lives during the protests urging those gathered for ordination to take a moment and remember them.

“This season is a mixed season in which we are in solidarity with our young people who lost their lives. And as a country we are not doing very well,” said the 61-year-old Catholic Bishop who has been at the helm of Homa Bay Diocese since his Episcopal Ordination in February 2021.

He noted that the demands Kenya’s youth are voicing to President William Samoei Ruto’s government echo the vision that KCCB members articulated during the launch of the 2025 Lenten Campaign dubbed the “Kenya we desire.”

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“The Kenya we want is what these young people are up to, to encourage so that we get good leadership, so that there’s peace, harmony, understanding, cohesion, so that there’s living together,” he said.

Bishop Odiwa emphasized that the “Kenya We Desire” is one founded on peace, a virtue he urged the Deacon he was about to ordain a Priest of  Mill Hill Missionaries to uphold and foster in his Priestly ministry.

“It is our trust and hope that, as Michael joins the number of God’s servants, he will become an instrument of peace—one through whom God may bring us the peace we so deeply desire and need,” Bishop Odiwa said.

Recalling Thomas’ doubt of the testimony of his colleagues that Jesus Christ has risen from the death, the Kenyan Catholic Bishop urged Deacon Owuor to guard against doubt and instead embrace a steadfast faith.

He explained, “Faith is what makes real what cannot be seen or touched. It gives substance to the invisible. And when do you truly see it? When someone lives it out—when it is made concrete. Faith provides the proof for things unseen. What is visible does not require faith; it simply demands recognition."

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“Today, you become a minister of this sacred ministry—of things unseen yet made visible through daily living. Be true and steadfast by living a simple and honest life,” Bishop Odiwa told Deacon Owour.

Sabrine Amboka

Sabrine Amboka is a Kenyan journalist with a passion for Catholic church communication. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from St. Paul's University in Kenya.