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Kenyan bishop leads fight against evolution museum

The world's most important collection of human fossils may soon be hidden from public view if religious leaders get their way.

In a move that stunned scientists, clergy members have demanded that the bones currently exhibited in Nairobi's National Museum of Kenya be removed from display to prevent young Africans from being corrupted.

"It's creating a big weapon against Christians that's killing our faith," said Bishop Boniface Adoyo, who is leading the hide-the-bones campaign.

"When children go to museums they'll start believing we evolved from these apes," he said.

Not surprisingly, the bishop's remarks have infuriated scientists who consider the museum's collection to be unrivalled anywhere else in the world. Its fossils include those of the 4 million-year-old apeman, Australopithecus anamensis, the 1.5 million-year-old remains of the Nariokotome boy -- the most complete skeleton of an ancient human ever found -- and a series of other bones that highlight crucial phases of our evolutionary past.

Many of these fossils were discovered by palaeontologists Louis and Mary Leakey in areas around Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana and are widely regarded as providing stark demonstrations of how our species was shaped by natural selection.

Their son, Richard Leakey, and his wife Maeve have continued this fossil-hunting tradition. They too have been dismayed by the bid to suppress the museum's fossils.

"The church is being ridiculous," Richard Leakey said.

"Its leaders are out of step. Evolution theory is accepted across the world. This is scientific history and Kenya has the best of this evolutional history. Globally, few can match that claim to fame," he said.

The National Museum of Kenya is currently preparing to reopen next year after completing massive EU-funded renovations. As part of that work a special exhibit, "The Origins Of Man," which displays the key finds around Africa's Great Rift Valley -- considered by many the cradle of humanity -- is now being set up.

However, it is this display that African evangelicals say is offensive, because it promotes Darwin's theory of evolution. As a result, they are demanding that the display be removed or at least moved to a less prominent location.

"When museums put it out there that man evolved from apes, theologically they are affecting many people who are Christians, who believe God created us," said Bishop Adoyo, the chairman of the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya.
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