Some are hoping:

Cardinal Otunga, who enjoyed a widespread reputation for holiness, died on September 6, 2003. Ordinarily the Church would require five years to elapse before a cause was opened. But his successor, Archbishop Ndingi Mwana’a Nzeki of Nairobi, said that the faithful of Nairobi are anxious to start the process for beatification of their beloved cardinal. "We will consult with the apostolic nuncio about that possibility," the archbishop said during a Mass marking the 3rd anniversary of Cardinal Otunga’s death. "We know it requires five years after one’s death before the process can start, but there have been exceptions."

(To date there have been only two exceptions granted to the 5-year waiting period. Pope John Paul II (bio – news) authorized a quick start to the cause for beatification of Mother Teresa, and Pope Benedict XVI allowed an immediate opening of the cause for beatification of John Paul II.)

Thousands of Kenyan Catholics turned out for the Mass honoring the memory of Kenya’s only cardinal. They heard the homilist, Father Lawrence Njoroge, report that 20,000 people had visited the little chapel in the southern section of Nairobi where the cardinal’s remains were first interred. His body was later moved, according to his wish, to be reburied at the Consolata shrine in Nairobi.