Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Kenya Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
The son of a Bukusu chief who became the first Kenyan cardinal, led the Catholic church in Kenya for a quarter of a century, and lived in a way that made the office look like a duty rather than a position.
Maurice Michael Otunga was born at Chebukwa in Bungoma, a son of a Bukusu chief, and was ordained in Rome in 1950. He became the first Kenyan Catholic bishop, then Archbishop of Nairobi, and in 1973 Paul VI made him a cardinal — the first Kenyan to be raised to the college.
He led the Kenyan church for twenty-four years, through the years of one-party rule, and the Catholic bishops' pastoral letters of that period were among the very few institutional voices willing to criticise the government in public.
He was known for a personal austerity that surprised people who expected otherwise: he lived simply, walked where he could, gave away what he was given, and spent time at Nyumbani, the home for children with HIV that he helped establish, when the disease still carried heavy stigma. He retired in 1997 and died in 2003; the cause for his canonisation was opened in 2009 and he is titled Servant of God.
He led the Kenyan church for twenty-four years, through the years of one-party rule, and the Catholic bishops' pastoral letters of that period were among the very few institutional voices willing to criticise the government in public.
He was known for a personal austerity that surprised people who expected otherwise: he lived simply, walked where he could, gave away what he was given, and spent time at Nyumbani, the home for children with HIV that he helped establish, when the disease still carried heavy stigma. He retired in 1997 and died in 2003; the cause for his canonisation was opened in 2009 and he is titled Servant of God.
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