During
his earthly life, Simeo Ondeto was an unyielding champion of human freedom and
dignity. Simeo could take any risks, face any hardships, and endure any affliction
in order to ensure that humanity was never at peril. His resolve to deal with
the problems of human freedom and dignity was always evident in his actions and
words.
When he preached, he encouraged spiritual freedom. His miracles were
always about giving hope to the suffering, empowering the weak and the
emotionally insecure and making life livable. He neither performed miracles to
demonstrate his power nor performed miracles to boost the numbers of his
followers. But everywhere he went, he performed miracles only when necessary
for freeing a suffering soul and for strengthening the hopeless.
Homes
for Orphans, Widows and the Needy
During
his lifetime, Baba Simeo ensured that Legio Maria churches were the safe havens
for orphans widows and the needy. After he was forced to desert his Hill of
Calvary (Got Okwon’g) through police raids and eventual burning, Simeo Ondeto
decided to settle in St. Mary Church Jerusalem Amoyo from 1966-1991. And he
turned Jerusalem into the home of thousands of Orphans and hundreds of widows.
Any widow could just walk in, find a place to build a house in the church’s
compound and live there with her family. Simeo would then provide food to all
the orphans and widows from the regular gifts he received from church members
and from people who visited him. In fact, Simeo never kept any gifts or moneys.
As soon as he was given a gift, a widow or orphan was there to pick it. And he
would give out the gifts without looking at his side.
The
widows and orphans programs were not only running at St. Mary Jerusalem. Baba
Simeo also ensured that all Legion Maria churches had allocated small sections
of their land to the widows’ programs. In his decrees, he also ordered that
widows be welcomed in Legio Maria churches and shown where to build their
houses in the churches without being asked to pay for it. In return, he
expected the widows to be committed to the service of God while they lived in
the church compounds. Indeed, the widows and orphans programs allowed many
single families to settle in Manyatta church, Efeso Nzoia church, Kodero church
and Nyapiedho church, among other churches.
Involvement
in Political Freedom
While
Baba Simeo did not engage directly in political affairs, he advised politicians
whenever necessary. According to Susana Ouma, his foremost maidservant, Baba
Simeo was involved in the fight against colonialism in Kenya. Susana recounts
how she met with Baba Simeo while she was boarding a bus in Nairobi. She said:
“On
that day, I went to town to buy a few things for my aunt whom I worked for as a
baby nurse. While inside the bus, this man (Simeo Ondeto) entered the bus and
sat next to me. I did not yet know that he was one of the freedom fighters. But
the people in the bus said it loudly that this man was one of the Mau Mau
fighters who was fleeing from the police…..We talked all the way until he
alighted.”
Well,
it is not just Susana Ouma who reported the involvement of Simeo in the freedom
fight. Even Simeo himself recounted several times how he worked closely with
African and Kenyan freedom fighters to liberate Africans from the colonial
yoke. Indeed, it is because of these narratives that Legio Maria calls him
Dedan Kimathi, which is a symbolic name for Simeo’s liking for liberation and
freedom.
Moreover,
Simeo Ondeto worked with Jaramogi Oginga Odinga during the struggle for
Multi-Party Democracy in Kenya. Often, Jaramogi Oginga visited Simeo for discussions
on freedom in Kenya and how to achieve it. In fact, even when Oginga was
despairing, Simeo encouraged him. And in 1989, Simeo gave Oginga Odinga a
two-branched image to symbolize the imminent victory in the struggle for
pluralism in Kenya. Furthermore, in his sermons, Baba Simeo frequently
instilled hope in his listeners, telling them that “however bad things may
seem, human freedom and dignity would always prevail.”