The little Italian church built by prisoners of war

The Axis powers comprising Germany, Italy and Japan were the nations that fought against the Allied Forces during World War II between 1939 and 1945.

Italian East Africa was a colony established in 1936 by the merger of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea with the former Ethiopian Empire.

In 1940, British Somaliland was also conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa. However, shortly after in 1941, Italian East Africa was itself conquered during the British and Ethiopian-led East African Campaign.

More than 37,000 Italian prisoners of war (POWs) captured after the defeat in Ethiopia were interned in war camps in British East Africa, including in the Rift Valley where, among other duties, they were made to build the Maai Mahiu Road under treacherous conditions.

Many POWs died of malaria and tuberculosis in the camps while others were eaten by wild animals or bitten by snakes.

At the instigation of Bishop McCarthy of the Catholic Church, the sitting governor, Sir Henry Moore, agreed to give the POWs a piece of land at the bottom of the eastern escarpment to build a place of worship. The prisoners decided to build a Catholic chapel and the beautiful little church was completed towards the end of 1942.

The church is built of smooth dressed masonry walls, with flush mortar joints and arched windows glazed in coloured broken glass bottle pieces delicately fused together with cement dust. The roof is of timber members under interlocking Roman tiles, with half round tiles at the hips of this pentagonal shaped sructure.

The floor is finished in coloured cement screed while the internal walls at the apse are lined in red bricks. A belltower is located to the right of the apse but the bell was stolen a while back.

There are many Latin phrases and paintings encrypted on the internal walls and figurines of the Virgin Mary and Jesus stand next to the altar, with lit candles on either side.

The church has four handcrafted wooden pews, with a sitting capacity of 12 people. A new gate and perimeter stone wall were added recently following frequent burglaries during which many valuables were stolen.

The church sits on two acres of land, registered under the Italian government. It is gazetted as a national monument and is the smallest church in East Africa.

I had the pleasure of meeting the caretaker, Nyakio, who says that she has been working there on a voluntary basis for the last 16 years. She is assisted by Pius Maina and Jacinta Njeri.

They earn their keep from donations by well wishers and a small stipend from the Italian government. However, Nyakio informed me that Francis Mburu, a Nairobi businessman, financed the new gate and perimeter wall and provides for most of the upkeep on a regular basis.

According to Nyakio, the British had established army barracks across the road towards the Maai Mahiu township and the camp for the POWs was to the left as you start to climb the escarpment. She claims there is a mass grave to the north of the church where more than 100 bodies were buried during World War II. A few unmarked graves of POWs who died after the war surround the church. There is also a cave nearby, where the Italians would hide when they did not want to work.

Apparently, the Italians were good at making artefacts out of any material available, which they would then sell to the local community in exchange for cigarettes and other consumables. Up to today, many metal tools and other wrapped parcels are found in the bushes below by women digging their shambas.

Nyakio also claims that a number of POWs managed to escape during the war to the neighbouring Limuru area where they were given refuge by the residents.

I suppose the locals considered they shared a common enemy in the British as the struggle for freedom gained momentum. They must have been rather warmly welcomed as, after a few years, unmistakable evidence of their progeny began to appear in the area.

This church has stood the test of time, seen the colonials rule and leave and witnessed four regime changes after Independence.

People of all faiths stop here in this haven of peace, in the middle of a busy national highway, to pay homage to history and the prisoners who built it.

We need to appreciate all the well wishers who stop and contribute to the upkeep of this monument and in particular, Mr Mburu, for his continued support.