Faith sustains Kenyan minister as he champions human rights

Mennonite Central Committee
Wednesday, 20 December 2000

WINNIPEG, Man. -- Reverend Timothy Njoya boils his years of struggle in Kenya-- which include multiple beatings-- down to two pithy declarations: Divine rights are human rights. Human rights are divine rights.

On the basis of that profound belief, Njoya, a Presbyterian minister, has crusaded against corruption and injustice, and for multi-party democracy in his country, for almost two decades.

Njoya was recently presented with the John Humphrey Freedom Award for his efforts to strengthen human rights and the democratic process in Kenya. The award is given each year by Rights & Democracy (International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development), an independent Canadian organization, based in Montreal.

During a cross-Canada speaking tour, Njoya spoke at a lunch meeting at the Mennonite Central Committee office in Winnipeg, December 14, which drew Mennonite church leaders and other interested guests.

The 59-year-old explained that his revival meeting conversion as a teenager served as a catalyst for his life's mission. He said he began to see hungry people where he'd never seen them before. He saw people in need whom he'd never seen before.

"I started to see that the divine rights are human rights," he said. "My relationship with God must be lived in relationship with all other people."

Njoya also grew in his understanding of God as an accountable God, who took responsibility for the sins of the world. At the same time, he began to understand more clearly the lack of accountability in his own government.

He was ordained in 1967 as a minister in the Presbyterian Church of East Africa. He began preaching--at first subtly --against the authoritarian government of Kenya. President Daniel arap Moi has been in power since 1978.

By 1986 Njoya was calling for a new Kenya. "Let's now transform Africa into a human place," he preached.

By 1990 he was taking his message, calling for multi-party democracy, to the streets. Other groups joined the struggle "to help us press forward for human rights and democracy."

Over the years, he has regularly been harassed by police and government agents. In 1997 and '99 he was severely beaten during pro-democracy gatherings and hospitalized.

Njoya has also campaigned for the rights of women. He founded Men for Equality with Women lobby group.

His wife Leah Wambui Njau, who accompanied him on his speaking tour, told the lunch guests that many women in Kenya are doubly oppressed--once by the authoritarian government and again at home, where wife battering is widely accepted.

For women, the struggle is not only about good governance. "But they are also struggling with the situation on the home front. Unfortunately, the church has not been very vocal on this issue," she said.

Although change in Kenya has been painfully slow, Njoya counseled against losing hope. Although multi-party democracy was formally introduced in 1991, the elections in 1992 were seen by many as unfair. Njoya said before the '90s, however, he struggled alone for human rights. Now the movement is growing. "If many people are for something it will happen," he said.

He said the attitudes of many Kenyans are changing. He said before if people were killed it was the government's choice. Now, an increasing number of Kenyans are deciding how they will live. "Now it is them choosing whether they will die rather than live on their knees," he said.

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org