Finally, Vatican has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV has appointed Reverend John Mbua Mwandi as the new bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Kitui in Kenya.
Until his latest appointment, Rev. Mwandi was serving as the parish priest of Mulutu in Kitui County.
Born on September 24 1970, Mwandi studied philosophy at Saint Augustine’s Senior Seminary of the diocese of Bungoma, and theology at Saint Matthias Mulumba Senior Seminary of the diocese of Kapsabet.
He was ordained a priest on December 8 2001.
After his ordination, he first held the offices of parish vicar in Ikutha (2002), parish priest in Miambani (2001-2005), Ikanga (2006) and at the Cathedral of Kitui (2007-2011), and dean of the Eastern Deanery (2005).
He obtained a diploma in Project Management from the Kenya Institute of Management in Nairobi (2008), and went on to serve as diocesan bursar (2011-2020), pro-vicar general (2016-2020), vicar general, and to date, parish priest in Mulutu.
The news of Mwandi’s appointment was officially made public on Wednesday, May 27 at around 1 pm local time, ending hours of rumours, speculations and anxiety among the Catholic Church faithfuls in Kitui.
Confusion had rocked not only the faithfuls but also the church hierarchy on Tuesday, May 26 when widespread reports of Mwandi’s appointment starting flying around.
Bishop-elect Mwandi succeeds the current diocesan leadership following the appointment of Bishop Joseph Mwongela as Coadjutor Bishop of Machakos earlier this year.
