By Fredrick Odiero
After working in the Bank for over twenty years, an ardent church leader made one of the most difficult decisions in life. He resigned in order to start taking care of orphans and vulnerable people in society.
Bishop Joshua Ayoo Koyo, who is a minister at the Episcopal Church of Africa, also runs a school for needy children in Rabuor area and its environs. He describes taking care of the less fortunate as a lifelong calling.
“I had previously been staying with several orphans in my own house so I was moved by their plight” he says.
He was formally working at Barclays bank (now absa) before he retired at 45 years in 1999, a decision that was vehemently opposed by his family and colleagues at the bank.
After his retirement, he got Shs 4.5 million which he poured into his pet project of starting an orphanage.
The director says that the services are offered at St Peters and St Barnabas churches where orphans are taken care of.
Koyo, who works with his wife at the two institutions, has a total workforce of 17 workers. At the moment, over 700 orphans are under their care. When he started the orphanage, he had 100 orphans.
Koyo says the church has a forum to speak against corruption but not to apprehend the culprits and take them to court.
He warns that the war against graft will only be won if those pushing for it are genuine.
“If we say we are not going to entertain politicians in church, let it be across the board. The church needs to come up with restrictions which are fully implemented,” says Koyo.
He added that if there is evidence implicating an individual for a crime, the individual should be charged before a court of law.
Koyo was born in 1952 in Nyando and went to Oromo primary school. From there, he proceeded to the prestigious Jamhuri High school in Nairobi which was then known as the Duke of Leicester where he did both his ‘O’ and “A” levels. Because of his father’s death, Koyo could not proceed to university. He had to resort to menial jobs during school holidays to fend for his family.
‘I wasn’t deterred when I didn’t proceed to the university. I later applied to Great Lakes University and am currently doing my masters. I applied for a job at Barclays where I worked until I rose to the position of risk manager,’ he proudly says.
