Catholic World News News Feature

US Priest Allowed To Stay In Kenya November 03, 1999

NAIROBI (CWNews.com) - An American priest who was in danger of being forced from Kenya after 35 years service there won a reprieve on Tuesday when his work permit was renewed.

The government had earlier refused to renew Father John Anthony Kaiser's expired work permit, which supporters said resulted from the priest's testimony at an inquiry that implicated Cabinet ministers in tribal clashes and the rape of schoolgirls. A senior immigration official said on Wednesday that the permit had been renewed following an appeal by Bishop Collin Davis of Ngong.

The two-year work permit had expired in June and was not immediately renewed as had been the case over the past three decades. Father Kaiser had then received warnings from the immigration ministry that he was in the country illegally, and subsequently went into hiding to protect himself.