Martin Kivuva Musonde, (born on 10 February 1952), is the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Mombasa, effective 9 December 2014. He previously served as the Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Machakos The Catholic Diocese of Machakos ( la, Machakosen(sis)) is a diocese located in the Town of Machakos in the Ecclesiastical province of Nairobi in Kenya. History * May 29, 1969: Established as Diocese of Machakos from Metropolitan Archdiocese of ...

from 2003 until 2014.

Background and priesthood

He was born on 10 February 1952, in Muthetheni, in present-day

Machakos County Machakos County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya, which came into being because of the devolved system of governance occasioned by the 2010 constitution of Kenya. The country's first administrative headquarters are in Machakos Town, which is ...

. He is the first born in a family of six brothers and three sisters. He was baptized on 22 March 1952. He attended Kyambusya Primary School in Muthetheni. In 1961, his family moved to Kichaka Samba in present-day

Kwale County Kwale County is a county in the former Coast Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kwale, although Ukunda is the largest town. Kwale county has an estimated population of 649,931. Kwale is mainly an inland county, but it has coastline south of M ...

. After the relocation, he joined Kichaka Samba Primary School. Later, he attended St. Mary's Seminary in

Kwale Kwale is a small town in and the capital of Kwale County, Kenya. It is located at around ; 30 km southwest of Mombasa and 15 km inland. The town has an urban population of 10,063 (2019 census). It is next to the Shimba Hills Natio ...

. He then studied philosophy and theology at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city prope ...

. Musonde was ordained priest on 9 December 1978 in the Archdiocese of Mombasa. His first appointment as a priest was in Mwatate Parish in Taita-Taveta as an assistant Priest. From February 1979 until February 1989, he served as a parish priest in Our Lady of Fatima Parish Kongowea and at the same time as an officiating Chaplain to Kenya Armed Forces, at Nyali Barracks. From 1989 to 1992, he worked as a parish priest of Makupa Parish.

Career in communication

From 1989 until 1992, he worked as a social communications coordinator for the Archdiocese of Mombasa. In 1992, he was appointed to work in Ukweli Video Productions in

where he later became the director, a position he held until his appointment as the Bishop of Machakos. Archbishop Martin Kivuva holds certificates in building and construction from Mombasa Polytecnic, in Religious Studies from the

University of Nairobi , mottoeng = In unity and work , image = Uon emblem.gif , image_size = 210px , caption = Coat of Arms of the University , type = Public , endowment ...

, in aid administration from

Selly Oak College The Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education (also called the Queen's Foundation, Birmingham and formerly the Queen's College, Birmingham) is an ecumenical theological college which, with the West Midlands Ministerial Training Cou ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, in Radio Production from

All Africa Conference of Churches All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC, or CETA) is an ecumenical fellowship that represents more than 200 million African Christians in 204 national churches and regional Christian councils in 43 African Countries. AACC's head office is in ...

in Nairobi, and a video and radio production from the Institute of Telecommunications in Dallas, Texas.

As bishop

He was appointed bishop on 15 March 2003 and ordained and installed as the Bishop of Machakos on 3 June 2003 at Machakos Stadium. The Principal Consecrator at his consecration was Archbishop

Raphael S. Ndingi Mwana a'Nzeki Raphael S. Ndingi Mwana a'Nzeki (25 December 1931 — 30 March 2020) was a Kenyan bishop of the Roman Catholic Church who served as archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi in Kenya. He also served as the bishop of Machakos and ...

, the Archbishop of Nairobi, who was assisted by Archbishop

John Njenga John Njenga (December 25, 1928 – November 4, 2018) was Roman Catholic archbishop of Mombasa Diocese from 1990 to 2005. Njenga was born to Peter Kimani and Maria Wanjir in Tigoni, Kiambu District, Kenya and attended Mang’u High School ...

, Archbishop of Mombasa and Archbishop Nicodemus Kirima, Archbishop of Nyeri. On 9 December 2014, Bishop Martin Kivuva Musonde was appointed Archbishop of Mombasa and was installed as Archbishop on 21 February 2015. As bishop, he adopted the motto "that all may be one". He has been a champion of the rights of individuals and the disadvantaged, regardless of religious affiliation.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kivuva Musonde, Martin 1952 births 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Kenya Living people People from Machakos County University of Nairobi alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Kitui Roman Catholic bishops of Machakos Roman Catholic archbishops of Mombasa