I had a good conversation today with the Anglican Bishop, The Rt. Rev. John A. Herzog, OSA regarding our differing opinion on the pending lawsuit against the members who bailed out Mr. Mugo from jail. We disagreed about most of the things without being disagreeable. He even asked me if I would like to run the church for him, and I graciously told him that I would like the job to be done by the experts. He also told me he has an open heart, and he is helping and has helped many Kikuyus get Green Cards. I graciously told him I don’t need one. He also told me that he has worked with Kikuyus all over the US, and I got curious to know where they are from back home. He told me that he has dealt mostly with Kikuyus from Kenya only. Well, you know let’s keep that aside for now, because it’s beside the point. From there we went down to business. Don’t get me wrong, the issue about this blog is one, to make sure that the goodwill of the public about the funds is maintained, and the money is used for its intended use, if not, common law and common sense dictates that the money should go back to the public or an organizations that cares about the community. For those who are new to the saga, when Pastor Mugo went to jail, the church had no funds to bail him out. So, honest Kenyans from the community came together and met in the house of one of the members and spent their personal time, resources to mobilize the community to see that one of their own was out of jail. And as they say, “…faith is no prisoner to reason”. When it comes to faith, you are allowed to be illogical. But this is a case about facts, and that’s why the community that contributed the funds needs an explanation from both the Bishop and Mr. Mugo
But according to the Bishop, get this, the money now does not belong to the community, it belongs to John Mugo wa Mwangi and company. Stop scratching your heads, which is what he said in our conversation. The minute the money was deposited in the church account to buy a cashier’s check to bond Mugo out, he believes technically the money belongs to the church. The Bishop also told me that the church has a chancery (that is a church lawyer I suppose) who will make sure the money is refunded to Brother John as he called him). I asked him why the law suit is filed by Mugo instead of St. Mathews, to which he could not explain. I asked him if he has any financial vested interest to the churches and the moneys, to which he said no.
I went at great lengths and pains to ask the Bishop if by any chance he contributed any funds that we do not know to help in the course, to which he said NO.
What is my point in publishing this blog, is this the kind of a people we have now become? Anyone who came to help this man did not have the intent of the money and the funds to be used for any other program. As I told the Bishop, we already have people arrested and sitting in the Immigration jails and the money should be used for such programs, to the beneficial of the community. TECHNICALLY, lawyers can prove anything. Technically, we can say Columbus discovered America, Technically. To make my point, let me tell you a story about a behaviorist who wanted to experiment on the thinking of different professionals. And so he invited an engineer first. He walked in, sat down and received his first and only question: What is two plus two? He did not hesitate and answered “of course it is four”. The researcher thanked him and sent him away.
The second in the experiment was an architect. They posed the same question: What is two plus two? The man posed for a moment and answered: “The answer is four. However, three plus one is also four. There are many ways of looking at it”. He thanked him and dismissed him.
Lastly to walk in was a lawyer. He was asked the same question. Unlike the composed scientists, he panicked. He stood up, went to the door and shut it. Then he carried his chair close to where the researcher was. Leaning towards them he told him: “You see, two plus two can become anything. What do you want it to be?”
What is my point? The lawyers can make two plus two become seven. In other words, their interpretation of the funds will depend on where they stand. Unlike the engineer who saw the figures in absolute terms, everything around it is relative and can be interpreted anyhow depending on interest.
Technically, I told the Bishop, should Mugo be sitting in jail waiting for the brainy people to argue technically who would end up with the money once our brother gets out of jail. What will happen to the unlikely person who may be arrested and asks for community assistance? Technically, with examples like Mugo’s, technically I don’t know.