As the academic Year 2024-2025 begins, the Principal, Rev. Marcel Uwineza, led the HUC family in the celebrations of the first college on August 21. During the celebrations, the college honored the memory of Rev Fr. Floribert Ngwese Kombi, AA, who died in July of this year.
“We offer this mass in a special way for Fr. Floribert Kombi, an Augustinian of Assumptions who taught here for eight years,” Fr. Marcel said as he welcomed Fr. Alexis Kasereka, AA, an Assumptionist Priest who has joined HUC Faculty to share more about the late Fr. Kombi.
An Augustinian of Assumptionist from DRC, the late Fr. Kombi studied scriptures at the Biblical Institute in Rome and taught the Old Testament, the Historical Books, Greek, and Hebrew at Hekima University College from 2008 to 2016.
According to Fr. Alexis, the late Fr. Kombi was sick for almost two months and sought treatment at Mater Hospital in Nairobi before going back to Congo, where he passed away on July 28.
“What you may not know about Fr. Kombi, or what you may not have heard about him, is what he used to do after his classes here at Hekima. He spent all his time in the garden and poultry shed!” Fr. Alexis said as he invited the Hekima fraternity to visualize a great biblical scholar in an environment of poultry and green vegetables.
“In the evening, Fr. Kombi would abandon evening prayers at the community and respond to a call at the Vincentian Prayer House in Lavington, Nairobi, for an apostolate. While there, he could listen to people, pray for them, and give them hope!” This Fr. Alexis said is very important for any theologian: listening to God and his word by listening to people and the world surrounding us. Only in this way can we interpret the pain of the situations of God’s people in the light of the Gospel.
Fr. Alexis further disclosed that during the weekends, the late Fr. Kombi used to teach catechism to the children in preparation for the Sacraments of Initiation. “Once in a while, he could offer a free course, teaching his mother tongue to young people from his tribe living here in Nairobi.”
He said that Fr. Kombi also loved playing guitar and piano; sometimes, he would play until late at night, making some community members uncomfortable because some were preparing for their classes for the next day and thus needed the quietness of the night.
“Fr. Kombi did many other things in society, including his contributions to the African Bible. I mean so many things that can inspire us to accept that African Theology should start from the description of the concrete reality and, in this way, respond to the call that theology in Africa sometimes should be done outside of livelihood, where African human suffering and hope for liberation are experienced in solidarity with the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Fr. Alexis concluded by saying that the late Fr. Kombi has now joined his former colleagues at Hekima, the Late Fr. Aquiline S. Tarimo, SJ, who died in 2019, and the Late Prof Laurenti Magesa, who died in August 2023. May all rest in eternal peace!
Fr. Marcel said that on the day he shared the sad news of Fr. Kombi's passing, some Christians who prayed at the Vincentian Prayer House and knew Fr. Kombi reached out to him on his Facebook page and said that “this man, whenever we went to the prayer house overburdened, he heard our confessions, gave advice, and prayed with us, and we went back home feeling light!” May the Soul of Fr. Kombi Rest in Eternal Peace! Amen.
By Pamela Adinda, HUC Communications Coordinator