The head of the Catholic Church, John Cardinal Njue, on Sunday shed light on AU envoy, Raila Odinga’s claim that the Holy Pope had ordered that the return of a vehicle given to the Archbishop of Kisumu Philip Anyolo by DP William Ruto.
Speaking to Nation on Sunday, the Cardinal revealed that he was not aware of any papal orders concerning the issue.
“I am not aware of how the comments came about. I don’t know about claims that the Holy Pope directed the Church to return the gift,” he divulged.
Cardinal Njue was speaking in response to claims made by the former Prime Minister on Saturday that Pope Francis had instructed the church to return the Pajero bequeathed to the archbishop.
Raila was speaking at a funeral in Ugenya on Saturday where he went on to implore the church to turn down gifts from individuals who were accused of looting from the taxpayers.
Archbishop Anyolo echoed the Cardinal's remarks by stating that there were official channels of communication within the church and that he was yet to see any directive from the Holy Pope regarding the Mitsubishi Pajero.
“We have not received such a communication that we return the car. However, I wish to state that during my installation in January, I received two cars, but they don’t personally belong to me. They are the property of the diocese,” the archbishop disclosed.
The Catholic Church – and any other church I believe – had no mechanism to establish that certain gifts are proceeds of corruption, therefore, it is not an easy task to establish so and act,” he added
In the latest war of words between Raila and the DP, it was Ruto who had the last words through a tweet sent out on Sunday.
DP Ruto explained that the vehicle in question was actually bought jointly by himself, President Uhuru Kenyatta and Christian church leaders.
Archbishop Anyolo made it clear that he was currently using a Prado V8 provided by the church and that he was returning the Pajero as he felt it could be utilized better elsewhere.
He was yet to use the Pajero donated by DP Ruto as it wasn’t registered at the time.
