Fredrick Nzwili
Fredrick Nzwili is a journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. For more than 15 years, he has written about religion, politics, peace and conflict, development, security, environment and wildlife. His articles have appeared in international media organizations among others; The Tablet, The Christian Science Monitor, The National Geographic and Kenyan local newspapers; The Standard and the People Daily.
All Stories by Fredrick Nzwili
African clergy press pharmaceutical companies to close gap on child-HIV drugs
By Fredrick Nzwili — November 21, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — The call came on Universal Children’s Day, established by the United Nations in 1954 to promote international awareness of children's issues worldwide and improve their welfare.
In Kenya, a pastor’s refusal to marry an HIV-positive bride stirs debate over AIDS stigma
By Fredrick Nzwili — November 13, 2018
(RNS) — Pastor Jesse Karanja, the leader of Mizpah House of Prayer Church, insisted a couple take tests for HIV and pregnancy as guests waited in the church.
Clergy divided as Kenya moves to save forest, evict 40,000 settlers
By Fredrick Nzwili — August 15, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Churches, schools and crops have been burned in a clearing process that government officials say will save the main water supply.
After shuttering 700 churches, Rwanda proposes stricter clergy guidelines
By Fredrick Nzwili — July 11, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — After closing more than 700 churches and some mosques in March, Rwandan government officials have moved to institute guidelines for how faith groups operate in the majority-Christian East African country.
Killings of Catholic priests in Africa raise fears that peacemakers are targets
By Fredrick Nzwili — July 9, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Following the killings of several priests in the Central African Republic, Catholic officials worry that clergy are being targeted by armed groups for their peacemaking efforts.
Study: East African converts to Islam are recruitment targets by extremist groups
By Fredrick Nzwili — June 25, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — A June PeaceTech Lab report found that recent converts to Islam in East Africa are prone to be recruitment targets by violent extremist groups such as the Islamic State and al-Shabab.
Kenyan Islamic leaders speak out against female genital mutilation
By Fredrick Nzwili — May 8, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Muslim scholars emphasized that FGM is a cultural — not a religious — practice, and one that goes against Islamic teaching.
Another Catholic priest killed in Central African Republic
By Fredrick Nzwili — May 4, 2018
(RNS) — The Rev. Albert Toungoumale–Baba is the second Catholic priest to be killed in about a month in the CAR.
East African Mormons look forward to a Nairobi temple
By Fredrick Nzwili — April 18, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Construction of a temple — a setting for key Mormon blessings allowed nowhere else — is a sign that the church has established strong roots in a region.
Conservative faith leaders worry Kenya will repeal ban on gay sex
By Fredrick Nzwili — April 6, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — While few are actually imprisoned under the law, it has been used as a justification for harassment, violence and discrimination against gay people — at the hands of police, but also relatives who believe a gay person shames a family.
In Kenya, debt-ridden Christian universities struggle to stay open
By Fredrick Nzwili — January 30, 2018
(RNS) — While the Presbyterian university hopes to yet save itself in the face of a shutdown order, concern is also focused on the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and the Kenya Methodist University.
Kenyan nuns take over hospitals after protracted battle with American priest
By Fredrick Nzwili — January 24, 2018
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) – A dispute between an order of nuns and an American priest over control of two major hospitals for the poor has ended with the nuns — backed by a court order and the police — storming one of the hospitals.
After two drown in Tanzania, Christians re-examine safety of river baptisms
By Fredrick Nzwili — July 19, 2017
(RNS) — In Africa, river baptism is popular, particularly among the Pentecostal and charismatic churches.
Kenya to add chaplains to public high schools to improve discipline
By Fredrick Nzwili — July 7, 2017
NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) Religious leaders cheered the government's decision, saying it will promote good morals.
Kenyan court orders Catholic bishops to pay Muslim restaurant owner $125,000
By Fredrick Nzwili — June 6, 2017
NAIROBI (RNS) The court found the church in breach of contract and said it had discriminated against the restaurant owner along ethnic and religious lines.
