Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - Five of the future Cardinals - whose names were announced yesterday, Sunday 9 July, by Pope Francis - come from territories entrusted to the Dicastery for Evangelization. They are Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla of Juba, Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town, Archbishop-Coadjutor of Tabora Protase Rugambwa, Bishop Sebastian Francis of Penang and Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-Yan S.J. of Hong Kong.

For each of them, the path so far has been marked by different realities and challenges, but always nourished by a deep faith. The Archbishop of Juba (South Sudan), Stephen Ameyu Mulla, had to wait a long time for his installation: the fact that he is not originally from the capital had given rise to long months of protests, tensions and violence (see Fides, 27/4/2021).

The Archbishop of Cape Town (South Africa), Stephen Brislin, who has always been committed to peace in a conflict-ridden country, had appealed to all South Africans "to show their unconditional respect for human life and their commitment to peace. We will not allow those with sinister motives to pit one faith against another, nor to exacerbate tensions within religious groups", the newly appointed cardinal had declared (see Fides, 19/6/2018). "At the end of my mandate in the Vatican offices, particularly in the Dicastery of Evangelization, God wants me to serve him in a different place and in a different way."

These were the words of Archbishop Protase Rugambwa upon his arrival in Tabora (Tanzania) (see Fides, 4/7/2023). Archbishop Rugambwa is a much loved and well-known figure in the Dicastery for Evangelization, where he offered his service for a long time, as President of the Pontifical Mission Societies, and finally as Secretary of the same Dicastery.

An invitation to "have no fear" was extended by Penang Bishop Sebastian Francis to 128 catechumens from 12 parishes and the northern deaneries of the diocese at a multilingual mass for Lent 2023. "You are in the heart of Christ, disciples of Jesus Christ" (see Fides, 18/3/2023).

The Jesuit Stephen Chow Sau-Yan, ordained bishop in the Diocese of Hong Kong in December 2021, after his recent visit to the Diocese of Beijing (see Fides, 17/4/2023) had exhorted to pray to the Holy Spirit to "guide us so that we can learn to love our country and our Church at the same time". "Love for our country is part of the teaching of the Catholic Church", the newly appointed Cardinal had emphasized in this regard. Agenzia Fides

Azimio la Umoja Coalition leader Raila Odinga opted to use a matatu to work on Monday, July 10 instead of his usual motorcade.

The video that has since gone viral was posted by Azimio TV captioned ‘Embracing the convenience and camaraderie of public transport heading to work’.

When asked by one of the passengers in the matatu why he opted for a matatu, he said that he needed to share the everyday feeling of Kenyans. 

“I opted for the matatu today so that I can experience what other citizens experience,” said Raila.

While enjoying the ride along the Ngong - Nairobi route, Raila mingled with other passengers and discussed an array of issues including the escalating costs of basic commodities. 

Odinga’s action comes a few days after he urged Kenyans to boycott the use of highly taxed commodities, including fuel. By Denish Ochieng, The Standard

In a notice published on Monday, the Nigerian lender said that it will adjust its lending rate to 14.63 percent up from the current 14.22 percent with effect from August 8. 

The CBK on June 26 raised the central bank rate (CBR) from 9.5 percent to 10.5 percent — the highest point in close to seven years. 

“Following the increase of the CBR on June 26, 2023 from 9.5 percent to 10.5 percent, we wish to advise our customers that we shall adjust our loan interest rates to reflect a revised Access Bank Base Rate of 14.63 plus a margin, based on the customer’s credit risk with effect from August 8, 2023,” said the lender.

The changes, the bank said, will apply to all existing and new Kenya shilling-denominated facilities.

Equity Bank was the first lender to review loan prices following CBK’s adjustment of the CBR, increasing its rate from 12.5 percent to 14.69 percent effective July 10, followed by NCBA, which raised the rate to 13 percent up from 12 percent with effect from August 7. 

Other lenders are expected to follow in the trend in coming days in a shift that will set up borrowers for high cost of credit at a time when economic struggles have been entrenched by among other factors introduction of new taxation regimes that have heavily raided workers’ pay slips.

CBK data shows that borrowers hit banks with an additional Sh82.9 billion in loan defaults in just four months of the year while the share of non-performing loans hit a 16-year high.

Lenders have been shifting to a risk-based pricing regime where different consumers are charged different interest rates based on the estimated risk that the consumers will fail to pay back their loans. By KABUI MWANGI, Business Daily