KENYA: “I saw his Potential,” Archbishop Emeritus says at Ordination of Kisumu’s New Auxiliary Bishop
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
When Archbishop Emeritus Zacchaeus Okoth was appointed Bishop of the then Kisumu Diocese on February 27, 1978, the newly ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Kisumu Archdiocese, Rt. Rev. Vincent Ouma Odundo was just a few months from being born. 48 years later, in a moment that has left the faithful of Kisumu Archdiocese searching for words beyond coincidence, on Friday, February 27, 2026, Archbishop Emeritus joined the other Prelates to lay hands on Monsignor Odundo, who was ordained the third Auxiliary Bishop of Kisumu after the Servant of God Maurice Michael Cardinal Otunga who was the first Auxiliary Bishop and then the late Bishop Philip Sulumeti.
“It is over 40 years today since I was appointed Bishop of Kisumu,” said the Archbishop Emeritus in an interview with AMECEA Online, just after the ordination, his voice carrying the authority of a man who has shepherded a flock for decades, “So I think it’s God’s plan and wish.”
The story of Bishop Odundo and Archbishop Emeritus Okoth does not begin from the period the new Bishop was in the seminary. According to the Archbishop Emeritus, he knew the devout Catholic family of the auxiliary bishop, whose father served as Parish chairman some years back with the kind of dedication that left a mark on those who witnessed it.
“I knew Vincent right from home,” the Archbishop Emeritus recalled. “His father was a dedicated Catholic who, at one time, was the Parish chairman. Since I lived in Nyabondo (The home parish of the Auxiliary Bishop) most of the time as a seminarian, I knew the family.”
That seed of familiarity would grow slowly, steadily, across decades. When the newly ordained Prelate eventually presented himself for the priesthood, Archbishop Emeritus, by then a seasoned shepherd of souls, was watching closely. What he saw impressed him.
“When I decided to ordain him, I had already seen his character. I saw his potential for the future. So, when he became a priest, I saw in him someone who could help in the growth of the Archdiocese,” Archbishop Emeritus said.
It was Archbishop Okoth who then made a decisive call, sending the young priest to Rome to study Canon Law at the Pontifical Urbaniana University, a deliberate investment in a man he believed would one day help govern the Archdiocese. That calculation, it turns out, was more prophetic than even he may have imagined.
He added, “We thank God for having chosen my young brother Vincent to be an Auxiliary Bishop.”
For the People of God in Kisumu Archdiocese, Archbishop Emeritus said, “I ask them to cooperate with Bishop Odundo, work closely with him and do their best as they continue the work of evangelization.” I also urge them “to work alongside the new Bishop with diligence, strengthen their faith together, and to trust in the journey ahead.”
The symmetry of February 27 is the kind that makes the most rational mind pause. As the faithful gathered at Tumsifu Centre that Friday for the ordination of the Auxiliary Bishop, Archbishop Emeritus recalled his date of appointment as a Bishop on February 27, 1978, and the current Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archdiocese, Most Rev. Maurice Muhatia Makumba, marked his 16th anniversary since he was ordained a Bishop on February 27, 2010.
Bishop Odundo has been serving as the Vicar of the Kisumu Archdiocese, working closely with Archbishop Muhatia.
