Rogue clergymen in trouble for preying on their flock

Men of the cloth who prey on their flock are increasingly finding themselves in the dock, according to court records.

A bishop and a prophetess from United Hope Ministries in Nakuru were charged with obtaining Sh6 million from two women by pretending they were in a position to cast out demons between 2015 and 2016 at Donholm.

Samuel Muchai and Esther Gitau appeared in court and denied the charges.

It is alleged the two were arrested after Caroline Wambugu and Gladys Nyamu reported the matter at Makadara Police Station.

The Chief Magistrate Daniel Ogembo released the two on a bond of Sh2 million or a cash bail of Sh500,000 each.

In a separate case, a ‘pastor’ was jailed for 10 years for committing an indecent act with a minor.

On July 14, 2012, Pastor Kennedy Dembede reportedly told James Mutai (not his real name) he has a vision about demons haunting him and offered to exorcise them.

The pastor told the 14-year-old boy that he had seen a picture of him being invaded by demons and being buried, and this would need a one-on-one prayer session in a forest.

The praying mission turned out to be a preying session as the man of the cloth ordered the boy to remove his clothes so that the ‘anointing oil’ could be smeared on his body. The man smeared oil on the boy and sodomised him.

Michah Njoroge also fell victim to Dembede’s tricks.  A week after Mutai’s incident, Njoroge was told that someone in his family wanted to kill him. He was told to fast and pray for God to show him the person, with a caution that if he failed to heed to what the ‘man of God was saying, he would die in 14 days.

The incidents landed the pastor in prison for 10 years after he was found him guilty of committing the indecent act. High Court judge Said Chitembwe reaffirmed the sentence after hearing an appeal by Dembede.

In his defence, the 40-year-old man told the court that he ran a church by the name Milimani Deliverance Church where his wife was also a pastor. His argument was that at the time of the complaints, he was elsewhere and cited bias against him.

In another case, a pastor was jailed for 15 years for impregnating a girl and then offering her money to procure abortion.

David Mutai lured the 16-year-old girl into his house around the church on three occasions in August 2010 and had sex with her.

After the girl’s parents realised that she was pregnant on December 25, 2010,  the man offered to give Sh500 for abortion.

Judge George Kimondo on October 29, 2015, jailed “the man of the cloth” 15 years jail for the wrongful act.

On December 18, last year, High Court Judge Njoki Mwangi upheld a 20-year jail term slapped on a pastor who defiled a 12-year-old girl in the name of “exorcising demons in her private parts”.

Herbal Concoction

The court heard that on December 20, 2011, Pastor Dennis Okello approached the girl, who was preparing food with her cousin outside the house, and informed her that he was a pastor and could exorcise demons. The man had taken the advantage of the absence of the girl’s mother to carry out the heinous act.

According to court records, the man of the cloth told Margaret Akinyi (not her real name) to enter the house so that he would cast out demons that had been inserted by her boyfriend in her private parts. She, however, did not have a boyfriend.

When the girl resisted, the court heard, Okello gave her some herbal concoction that made her unconscious. She later found herself on the floor naked, in pain and bleeding.

The man had visited their house on two occasions and prayed for Akinyi’s mother. She told the court that she got healed on his prayers.

Another pastor was charged before an Eldoret court with 14 counts of criminal offences on May 8, 2013.

Christopher Kibet Ngelechei, a pastor with the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church, was accused of robbery with violence and defrauding a bank.

In one of the counts, Kibet was charged with being in possession of a firearm and having used it to commit a felony, contrary to section 308(1) of the penal code.

The court heard that on June 22, 2012, in Eldoret West estate, Kibet, with others, was found armed with a pistol in circumstances that indicated they had intent to commit robbery with violence.

Kibet was also charged with stealing two mobile phones belonging to Moses Onyapidi, both valued at Sh9,000 before subjecting him to violence.

Kibet was also accused of obtaining a Sh1.142 million loan from Barclays Bank on April 13, 2011, by falsely pretending that he was in a position to repay it.

The accused, through lawyer John Nyandoro, applied to be released on bond but his application was rejected by the prosecution.

Eldoret Chief Magistrate Charles Mbogo remanded the accused at the Eldoret G.K Prison. The matter is still pending in court.

A pastor was on April 29,2015 charged with defrauding a woman of Sh170,000.

Pastor Chris Okoth appeared before a Kisii court accused of taking the money from Leah Kwamboka Okoth on December 2014 and refusing to repay it.

Another pastor was charged in a Meru court with stealing Sh25,000 from a church member.

Harrison Thuranira Ntongai of Christian Celebration Centre appeared before Resident Magistrate Nasimiyu on Tuesday and denied the charge.

Mr Thuranira is accused of stealing the money from Faith Kawira in Meru Town on January 13.

On November 17, 2014, a Nyeri pastor was arraigned in court for defiling a nine-year-old girl.

Pastor Simon Bundi Mutegi allegedly defiled the minor at Chaka Trading Centre on October 16, 2014, before accompanying her to a prayer meeting.

He denied the charges when he appeared before Nyeri Principal Magistrate Susan Ngungi and was released on a Sh200,000 bond with a surety of a similar amount or a cash bail of Sh100, 000.

In another incident on November 11, 2013, a pastor with The Power of Jesus Around the World Church in Nyalenda within Kisumu was charged with attempting to seduce a fellow man.

Erick Osewe alias Dominic Oloo appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Samuel Atonga. He was charged that on October 28, 2014, at Dale International Hotel within Kisumu, he sent a seducing text message to Walter Amatta.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge and was released on a bond of Sh60,000.