AFRICA/KENYA - Bishop of Nakuru appointed

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father Benedict XVI, on December 19, 2009, appointed as Bishop of Nakuru (Kenya) Father Maurice Muhatia Makumba of the clergy of the Diocese of Kakamega, Rector and Professor at the National Seminary of St. Thomas Aquinas in Nairobi.
Father Muhatia Makumba Maurice was born May 19, 1968, in the village Lirhanda, Parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Shubuyi, Diocese of Kakamega. He studied philosophy in St. Augustine Major Seminary and theology at St. Thomas Aquinas National Seminary. He obtained a Licentiate and Doctorate in Philosophy at the University of Santa Croce in Rome. He was ordained a priest on October 15, 1994 for the Diocese of Kakamega. After ordination he held the following positions: 1994: Vicar of St. Joseph parish in Kakamega, 1995-1998: Vice Rector and Professor of the Minor Seminary of St. Peter in Makumu, 1998-2002: Studies for a licentiate and a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Santa Croce in Rome, 2002-2005: Vice Rector and Professor at St. Augustine Major Seminary, Manga, since 2003: Member of Board of Consultants, 2005-2007: Interim Dean and Professor at St. Mathias Mulumba Major Seminary in Tindinyo; since 2007: Rector at the National Seminary of St. Thomas Aquinas; since 2008: part-time executive secretary of the Bishops' Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The Diocese of Nakuru (1968) is suffragan of the Archdiocese of Nairobi, and has an area of 18,149 square kilometers, with 1,571,097 inhabitants (224,653 Catholics), 40 parishes, 134 priests (91 diocesan, 43 religious), 27 religious brothers, 34 seminarians, and 175 religious. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 19/12/2009)