Bishop’s Murder: Rev. Father sentenced to death

A Catholic Reverend Father in Kenya, and four others have been sentenced to death for the murder of an elderly Italian bishop. Prosecutors saud the priest, Guyo Waqo and four others shot and killed 77-year-old Isiolo Bishop, Luigi Locati in July 2005.

It was learnt that the Bishop was killed at the chirch compound in Isiolo diocese in central Kenya in what was described as a power struggle over who controls the diocese’s money after the bishop retires.

During the eight-year trial which ended on Thursday, Father Waqo Guyo was named as mastermind of the plot, who recruited Mohammed Molu Bagajo, Aden Ibrahim Mohamed, Mahati Ali Halake, and Roba Balla Bariche to carry out the killing.

However, it is unlikely the death sentence will be carried out on the men, who all denied the murder and still have the chance to appeal the ruling.

Locati, from the northern Italian province of Vercelli, was ordained a priest in 1952 and came to Kenya 10 years later. He set up the Isiolo diocese in 1963.