Ghanaian Catholic Priest Killed In Kenya

A Ghanaian Catholic priest, Rev Father Martin Addai, was shot and killed in Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday, March 10, 2007.

Father Addai was shot and killed as he drove his car from the residence of the Society of the Missionaries of Africa to Mombasa Road.

An initial report by Vatican Radio said the Ghanaian priest was gunned down by unknown assailants while walking along Mombasa Road and his body left on the street.

However, reports by The Independent Catholic News of Kenya, The Catholic Information Services for Africa and Catholic World News all reported that the Ghanaian Priest's car was hijacked by his assailants who then shot him dead.

All three news sources said the killers had not been identified but the hijacked car was discovered two days after the shooting.

The reports quoted Brother Anthony Baaladong, Superior for the Missionaries of Africa in Kenya, as giving the assurance that the Kenya Police would issue a comprehensive report on their investigations into Father Addai's murder soon.

According to the reports, Father Addai worked in Mozambique and Ghana after studies in Rome and Canada.

In Kenya, he served as Seminary Rector and lecturer in Medical Ethics at Tangaza College, part of the Catholic University of East Africa.

Meanwhile, the 46-year-old Ghanaian Catholic priest was laid to rest in Nairobi on Saturday, March 31, 2007.

According to The Independent Catholic News, hundreds of people, led by the Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya, Archbishop Alain Paul Lebeaupin, and the Head of the Metropolitan Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi, Most Rev Ndingi Mwana 'aNzeki, attended the funeral mass in Niarobi.

In his homily, another Ghanaian priest, Father Richard Baawobr, the First Assistant to the Superior General of the Missionaries, based in Rome, who represented his Superior General, praised the zeal with which Father Addai undertook his pastoral duties, and said he had now joined other priests killed in the course of their pastoral ministry, both in Kenya and the entire world.

Father Addai was born at Akrofuom, near Obuasi in the Ashanti Region. He joined the Missionaries of Africa after his secondary education in Kumasi.

He later studied Philosophy at the Saint Victor's Seminary in Tamale. He also completed formation programmes in Zambia and St Edward's College in London and undertook further studies in Rome and Canada.