The government on February 28, 2021, honored a Priest in Nyeri with a Kenyan Citizenship Certificate on his 50th anniversary in Kenya.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, who had attended the service in which Father Romano Filipe was celebrating fifty years of service to the church in Nyeri, noted that the priest had expressed his wish to live and die in Kenya which is what prompted the governments' move to grant him citizenship.
“Romano wants to live among you and that is why we as a government have given him this certificate which now gives him all rights enjoyed by Kenyans, ” said Kagwe as he handed him the certificate.
Father Romano Filipe of Mugunda Catholic Church in Nyeri is an Italian who has been in Kenya for fifty years.
Romano who was given the name Mureithi by the residents was posted in Naro Muro as a priest after his ordination in Italy.
“I will always live among you because you are my family and that is all I need until I die," said Romano.
He served in several churches in Nyeri county for seventeen years and moved to Mugunda Catholic church where he built schools and a water company that revolutionalized the arid and semi-arid region.
“When Romano came here, this area was very remote. In fact, many of us were hungry and would always rely on him to provide us with relief food, but to our surprise, he looked for donors and now we have water for irrigation and domestic use and in addition, he set up schools and our kids are now educated that is why he was given citizenship. We now want him to live among us," stated Monica Njeri, a resident.
In attendance were Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga, Kiambu DG H.E Joyce Ngugi and Kieni MP Kanini Kega who noted that the priest merited a Head of state recognition as an Elder of the Burning Spear.
“This is a man who has done a lot for this community stretching all the way to Laikipia. He needs more than just citizenship. I am happy that I have a new voter now," he added.
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