The late Charles Mugane Njonjo was a staunch Anglican Church adherent who did not shy away from controversies that brought sharp opinions in the church.

On several occasions, he clashed with the church leadership especially on matters to do with church traditions.

In 2007, for example, he lashed out at the then primate Benjamin Nzimbi for agreeing to institute reforms that would allow youth to sing and dance in church, a development Njonjo was tacitly opposed to.

Njonjo also had a spat with the then head of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Archbishop David Gitari who was pushing for the sub-division of the Nairobi archdiocese.

There was a major revolt against Gitari with a section of the members led by Njonjo vowing not to allow the move.

Njonjo’s hard stance and defiance to change in the church was so heated that it even drew the attention of top government officials.

When matters came to boil, then Cooperatives Development Minister in the Kibaki administration, Peter Njeru Ndwiga openly demanded that the former Attorney General be expelled from the church.

“Mr Charles Njonjo should be expelled from the Anglican Church of Kenya for defying its doctrine,” Ndwiga was quoted as saying.

Controversial matters

Yesterday while confirming that Njonjo was a member of the All Saints’ Cathedral church, Provost Sammy Wainaina said one thing that the former AG will be remembered for by the church is that he spoke openly about controversial matters.

“This does not mean he was right on many of these issues, but the truth is he spoke his mind out on heated matters of the church,” said Rev Wainana.

He added: “He was not always critical to things done in church, he would appreciate when things were done well.”

Another thing that people do not know about the late Njonjo was his love for order in the way services were conducted.

“Njonjo loved orderly services and would not sit to watch and listen when things were not in order,” Wainaina said.

He also loved music and would commend the choir for its performance any time he attended a service.