A woman has declared herself the successor of Jehovah Wanyonyi, who disappeared mysteriously almost a year ago.
‘Prophetess’ Elizabeth Akata from Lodwar in Turkana County also declared herself the leader of the Lost Israelites of Kenya sect, whose leader was Wanyonyi.
Wanyonyi hit the headlines when he claimed to be ‘god’ in Kitale in the 1960s. He commanded a following of over 1,000 in Western Kenya and parts of Uganda.
The sect leader reportedly died last year in July but his followers issued a statement saying: “Our god never dies but assumes another form as he waits to judge the world when the end times approach.”
Akata claims to be the sect leader sent by Wanyonyi to lead the Lost Israelites to their promised land. She also claims to be Wanyonyi’s intermediary on earth.
“Wanyonyi approached me in Lodwar and asked me to come to Chemororoch village in Uasin Gishu — where the sect is based — and lead them since he has assumed another form,” claimed Akata, who has teamed up with ‘angel’ Joab Muhando to lead the faction.
RULING THE WORLD
Akata said their ‘god’ - Wanyonyi - was still ruling the world and hovering over a big sea. She said Wanyonyi was occasionally in talks with Pope Francis and US President Barack Obama. She added that Wanyonyi was also armed with three chains, a sword and a rod, which he uses to bind the devil and rule the world.
This twist further complicates the disappearance of the sect leader and threatens to split the members of the sect right down the middle.
Elaib Masinde, who regards himself as the high priest of the sect, dismissed the succession wrangles at the sect, saying the self-proclaimed ‘prophetess’ was excommunicated in March for desecrating their religion.
“That is ridiculous and blasphemous; god will remain god and we cannot say we are him, whether he is present physically or not. It is immoral for the two to claim they are succeeding Jehovah,” said Masinde.
Masinde said they believed their god was alive despite reports that he had died, insisting worship is not about seeing god physically but having faith in him.
“We have not received new information about mungu mwenye enzi Jehova Wanyonyi. I wonder why you like questioning our god’s whereabouts. Nobody asks Christians and Muslims where their God is,” he said.
