Pastors fight over right to preach in bus

By MKALA MWAGHESHA

KENYA: Two preachers recently got into a physical fight on a crowded Machakos-bound bus after they failed to agree on who was to preach, considering they had boarded the bus simultaneously.

It began as an argument with each claiming he had boarded the bus before the other.

One of the pastors boarded the bus at Mlolongo while it was being fuelled. Once the bus hit the highway, he stood up and urged the passengers, some of whom were blocking his view, to sit down or squat along the aisle. 

With a Bible in hand, he launched into a punchy sermon as he generously quoted verses.

No sooner had he finished making his introductory remarks than another preacher — in an ill fitting suit — sprung up and confronted him, asking him why he was preaching “in my bus”.

“I am the one who got onto this bus before you. You should respect that and let me preach,” the aggrieved said.

The accused calmly explained that he always travelled in the bus and, thus, was the bus’ resident preacher. He, further, urged his rival to go ahead and seek clarification from the driver and the conductor who knew about the ‘deal’, if at all he was in doubt.

The conductor hurriedly absolved himself from the debate, saying: “Mimi mambo ya Mungu siingilii, nyinyi muumbili nyote ama mmoya asuke (I will not poke my nose in matter to do with God. Both of you should go ahead and preach or alternatively one of you leave it to the other).”

The two pastors continued arguing, with the aggrieved nearly in tears. The passengers, perhaps eager to listen to the word of God, became agitated.

“Njameni si mmoya ahumbili tukienda na mwengine alundi na mbas (why can’t one of you preach now and the other to wait for his turn as the bus returns)?” said an elderly  woman sitting near the pastors.

The pastors could hear none of it, knowing very well that there were many other pastors in Machakos town eagerly waiting for the bus.

Raspier

With the aggrieved pastor losing the argument, considering the other pastor was raspier and louder, he went at him hammer and tongs. Unaware that an attack was imminent, the other pastor was caught flat-footed with blows landing on his face.

The two got tangled in a melee of pulling and tugging as passengers in the aisle kept ducking in a bid to escape stray jabs and kicks.

The bus turned cacophonous forcing the conductor to signal the driver to stop at Athi River. The two pastors were unceremoniously ejected from the bus with passengers booing and taunting them.

After the drama, the journey proceeded as the disgraced pastors were left arguing by the roadside in as they straightened their creased clothes.

Related Topics

Machakos preachers