Read Libby Purves on Creationism

Turkana Boy, considered the most complete early human fossil, is being removed from his bomb-proof vault to take centre stage at an exhibition that curators say will provide the most complete record of the evolution of Man.

However, the collection, to be show-cased for the first time at the Nairobi National Museum after a £5 million renovation financed by the European Union, has drawn sharp criticism from evangelical Christians who deny the theory of evolution.

They, in turn, are being opposed vociferously by scientists eager to study the specimens and to explore the role of Kenya as the cradle of humankind.

Bishop Boniface Adoyo, the head of the 35 Kenyan evangelical denominations, is leading opposition to the exhibition. “I do not dispute that as humans we have a history, but my family most certainly did not descend from the apes,” he said. The bishop was invited to view the new Human Origins gallery before it opened this month, and said that he would call on his flock to demonstrate outside the museum if evolution was described as anything other than merely a theory.

“Bits of it are being disproved by scientists every day,” he said. “Yet it’s being taught in our schools to children - a theory being taught as fact.”

His argument echoes a similar dispute in America, where creationists have developed the theory of intelligent design as a rival to Darwin’s natural selection.

Among the exhibits at the museum are remains of primitive apes dating back 25 million years and evidence that primates have been walking upright for 4 million years.

The star of the show will be Turkana Boy, a 5ft 3in (1.62m) skeleton of a human who died 1.5 million years ago, aged about 12. It is the best-preserved example of Homo erectus, the species that set out from Africa to conquer the world.

Lining up against the evangelical movement is the country’s most famous fossil-hunting family.

Richard Leakey, who led the team that unearthed the skeleton in the far north in 1984, dismissed the creationist argument. He said: “Science is at the very foundation of our ability to deal with the new century, so if we bring it down to the idea that science may be unChristian . . . well, how stupid can you get?”

Much of the museum’s collection is based on finds made by his parents, Louis and Mary Leakey, in the 1920s.

Dr Leakey has his own concerns about displaying the skeleton, arguing that it would prevent access for scientists, who still have a lot to learn from Turkana Boy.

Fredrick Manthi, senior research scientist at the museum, said that he had no problem reconciling evolution with his Christian faith. The gallery, he added, was an attempt to show the world that Kenya could be considered the birthplace of humanity.

“We do not want to tell people what to believe. What we are doing is displaying the fossil record,” he said.