A lawsuit has been filed against the Primate of the Anglican Church of Kenya charging Archbishop Eliud Wabukala with unlawfully manipulating the diocese of Mount Kenya Central’s episcopal election.

A lawsuit has been filed against the Primate of the Anglican Church of Kenya by four members of the Mount Kenya Central diocese, charging Archbishop Eliud Wabukala with unlawfully manipulating the diocese’s episcopal election. In a petition filed last week with the High Court of Kenya, four members of the diocese asked Judge Mbogholi Msagha to suspend the election of a new bishop pending an investigation into alleged improprieties in the selection process. On 7 Sept 2015 Archbishop Wabukala prorogued the election of a new bishop to succeed the Rt. Rev. Isaac Ng’ang’a, who retired last month after 15 years of service. Nine candidates had been put forward for consideration by a panel under the supervision of the archbishop’s office, led by the Rt. Rev. Stephen Kewasis Bishop of Kitale, who selected three candidates to contest the 12 Sept 2015 election. However, 50 of the 120 clergy in the diocese endorsed a letter to the archbishop alleging improprieties in the search process. According to the petition filed with the court, Bishop Kewasis had been biased. “After hours of protests, objections and disagreements, in total disregard of the members at 7pm, the chairman (Bishop Kewasis) announced three of the nine candidates as the ones validly cleared by the search committee.” Attorneys for the four petitioners said that although the archbishop had postponed the election, he had not responded to the allegations of bias on the part of Bishop Kewasis. “To date, the defendant has never responded.” The petition asks the court to order a postponement of the election until the charges of bias are answered. A hearing date has been set for 16 Dec 2015.