Rival Legio Maria factions clash at pilgrimage site

Tension brewed Monday at Legio Maria headquarters at Gotkwer in Suna West, Migori County, after a splinter faction led by Pope Raphael Adika stormed the hill at the climax of the annual pilgrimage which ended.

The parallel faction led by the newly appointed Pope Lawrence Kalul claimed his religious nemesis Adika was using security to disrupt the peaceful coexistence at the hill which the church considers as their calvary.

The pilgrimage that has been ongoing for close to a fortnight has been camping at Gotkwer for the annual pilgrimage went berserk when Pope Raphael Adika, the head of a splinter faction based in Kisumu arrived in a fleet of cars, under tight police security. The violence left a trail of loss after a car was torched after the two sides clashed.

The remains of a torched car at Dodkwer, Migori County. [Caleb Kingwara, Standard]