Timberlake released on Sh20,000 bail

By Evelyn Kwamboka

One of the men behind the Finger of God Church Quincy Zuma Timberlake has been released from remand.

He was released on Tuesday following a successful bail application before Chief Magistrate Gilbert Mutembei.

Based on the terms which former TV anchor Esther Arunga, Jazz maestro Nimrod Hellon Onyango and others were released on, the trial magistrate ordered he pays a cash bail of Sh20, 000.

He is charged that on February 20 at Runda Estate in Nairobi, with others not before the court, he was found to be a member of an unlawful society known as Finger of God Church.

On Tuesday, his lawyer Edward Oonge told court the case, which was a hindrance to his client being admitted to bail, had been settled.

The prosecution had asked the court not to release him on cash bail immediately, since he is allegedly a foreigner.

In an affidavit filed in court by the investigating officer Alphonce Lumosi, Timberlake is suspected to be a foreigner holding a Kenyan identity illegally.

Mr Lumosi also stated that Timberlake was charged before the Chief Magistrate’s court in Makadara, Nairobi with obtaining money by false pretences and absconded until he was arrested on February 21.

The others charged with the same offence are Samwel Nahashon, Fredrick Onyango, Vincent Onyango, Grace Njiriri and Veronica Agape Koten’go.

Finger of God Church officials and members arraigned in court claimed the religious institution was registered in 2007.

Their lawyer said a certificate of incorporation was issued following a successful application that was filed at the Attorney General’s office in 2002.