Cornelius Korir

Bishop Cornelius Kipng'eno Arap Korir was born on 6 July 1950 in Segutiet Village, Bomet District, Kericho Dioceses in Rift Valley Province. Korir started schooling at Chesoen and Segutiet primary school from 1950-1970. He later joined Mother of Apostles Minor seminary Eldoret and St. Augustine Major Seminary in Bungoma between 1971 and 1976. Kipng'eno Arap Korir obtained a diploma in the philosophy of religious studies in 1982. He was also awarded a diploma in theology from St. Thomas Aquinas major seminary, Nairobi. He continued schooling until and was awarded a degree in sacred theology by St. Patrick's College in Maynooth,Ireland in 1989. He was ordained as a priest on 6 November 1982. He was first appointed as a bishop on 7 April 1990. Until his death on 30 October 2017, he was a bishop at the Catholic diocese of Eldoret where he served from 2 June 1990. He first came to wider notice after meditating between Marakwet and Pokot clashes at Kapsait, where he managed to build a church as a symbol of unity. In 1997 and 2007/08, he interceded in meditating peace among several communities that clashed due to election issues. He is believed to have housed more than 10,000 families affected by post-election violence that erupted in December 2007 and lasted through February 2008. In his mission of uniting, Korir wrote a book titled Amani Mashinani where he featured how he managed to unite communities. He has earned two awards through his mission of restoring peace in Turkana, Marakwet and Pokot. He first received a medal of distinguished of Moran of the burning spears which was awarded by former president Mwai Kibaki. In 2009, he received the Milele Lifetime award which was given by the National Commission of Human Rights. The peace ambassador was able to start a radio station in the cathedral church of Eldoret and named it Upendo FM (meaning "love") in 2013. He died in his house on the morning of Monday 30 October 2017. He was diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes which were not detected for a long time. He was buried inside the cathedral as the first bishop in the region to have died in the line of duty.

• Catholic Church in Kenya

• Bishop Cornelius Kipng’eno Arap Korir at Catholic-Hierarchy.org ^{[self-published]}